WHO DEVELOPS ENDOMETRIOSIS?
— The exact incidence of endometriosis is not known because the disease can only be diagnosed by visualization during surgery. Therefore, many women will not know they have endometriosis if they have no symptoms and if their pelvis has not been examined at surgery. Studies in small groups of women have shown that endometriosis is present in at least 1 percent of all women of reproductive age and in: 1 percent of women having gynecologic surgery for any reason 6 to 43 percent of women having a surgical sterilization procedure 12 to 32 percent of women in the childbearing years undergoing laparoscopy because of pelvic pain 21 to 48 percent of women undergoing laparoscopy as part of an infertility evaluation 50 percent of teenagers undergoing laparoscopy to determine the cause of pelvic pain or dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation). Endometriosis does not usually occur prior to menarche (the first menstrual period of a woman’s life) or after menopause (the last menstrual period of a woman’s
