Chen ZY, Zhang LF, Zhang YQ, Zhou Y, Li XY, Huang XF. Blood tests for prediction of deep endometriosis: A case-control study. World J Clin Cases 2021; 9(35): 10805-10815 [PMID: 35047592 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i35.10805]
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03282534
Submitted on:
December 26, 2021, 15:39
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Reader Comments:
Dear Editor/Author:
As a researcher/pelvic surgeon in the field of endometriosis, I read the article with interest. However, I have found some points that is needed to be issued/addressed.
According to the statements in the section of methods, inclusion criteria for the DE group were: (1) .... (2) DE defined as endometriotic lesions that infiltrated the uterosacral ligaments by > 5 mm and muscularis propria (bladder, intestine, ureters). Lesions were confirmed by pathology. Patients with DE who simultaneously had superficial endometriosis (SUP) or ovarian endometrioma (OMA) were also included. In contrast, women between 18 and 40 years of age with surgical treatment at the same time for benign gynecologic diseases, including benign ovarian tumors, tubal infertility, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and intrauterine adhesion, but without any evidence of endometriosis, were recruited as controls.
All types of endometriosis (DE, superficial endometriosis, and ovarian endometrioma) are a kind of chronic inflammation, and will contribute to an elevation of inflammation markers (CRP, TNF, and cytokines). Thus, the differences of blood markers in the case and control group may come from the joint effects of DE, superficial endometriosis, and ovarian endometrioma rather than from DE per se. Thus, the research title may be better to be described as "Blood tests for prediction of endometriosis: A case-control study" by a comparison between the endometriosis group and the benign non-endometriosis group.
Kuo-Hu Chen, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor, School of Medicine, Tzu-Chi University, Taiwan, ROC
Director, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taipei Tzu-Chi General Hospital, Taiwan, ROC
Director, Taiwan Association of Gynecology
Supervisor, Taiwan Association of Minimally Invasive Gynecology
Editorial Board/ IJERPH, MDPI (SCI)
Guest Editor, IJMS (SCI)
Guest Editor, CEOG (SCI)
Reply from the Editorial Office:
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