title: Endoureterotomy is not a sufficient treatment for intrinsic ureteral endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether intrinsic ureteral endometriosis could be managed by laser endoureterotomy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied retrospectively 6 patients with intrinsic ureteral endometriosis who underwent laser endoureterotomy and reviewed their clinical data. Pathological sections of them have also been studied by immunohistochemistry for expressional levels of oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors. Ten sections of normal endometrium were included as a control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five patients had recurrence of ureteral stricture within 6 months postoperatively despite hormonal therapy for 3 to 6 months. One patient had recurrence 8 months after endoureterotomy. Two patients had secondary surgery for ureteroureterostomy and pathology confirmed recurrence of endometriosis. Immunohistochemistry revealed decreased ER and PR expression compared to the control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Endoureterotomy with hormonal therapy may not be suitable for ureteral endometriosis due to inadequate cutting and expressional change of ER and PR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology Hospital, Fudan University, China.
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Chenchen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Congjian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
keywords: endoureterotomy; oestrogen receptor; progesterone receptor; ureteral endometriosis