Cutaneous endometriosis

Cutaneous endometriosis
SpecialtyUrology, dermatology 

Cutaneous endometriosis is characterized by the appearance of papules at the umbilicus or in lower abdominal scars after gynecologic surgery.[1]: 628  The size averages to 2 cm in diameter. Its colour ranges from blue to violet, brown or skin-coloured.[2]

Rarely, endometriosis may present inside the muscles of the abdominal wall instead of the skin after cesarean section.[3]

Signs and symptoms

The traditional manifestation of cutaneous endometriosis is a hard nodule or papule with an average diameter of 2 cm. If a patient presents with a nodule at the umbilicus and exhibits symptoms like discomfort, itching, bleeding, or discharge, it is recommended to consider umbilical endometriosis.[4] Localized indications of inflammation, like erythema, could be present in the impacted regions.[2]

Symptoms are often reported to fluctuate with the menstrual cycle. In the umbilical endometriosis, pain and other catamenial symptoms were each reported in over 80% of cases, and bleeding was reported in about 50%.[5] In caesarean scar endometriosis cases, cyclical pain was reported by over 85% of patients.[6]

Causes

There are two types of cutaneous endometriosis: primary and secondary. Primary cutaneous endometriosis is known to develop spontaneously, yet its exact cause is unknown.[4] It is believed that treatments related to abdominal or pelvic surgery that result in the implantation of endometrial tissue into the skin are the cause of secondary cutaneous endometriosis.[2]

Diagnosis

A biopsy of the lesion and subsequent histological analysis can be used to confirm the diagnosis.[4]

Treatment

For cutaneous endometriosis, there are two possible treatment modalities: hormone therapy and surgery. Oral contraceptives, and gonadotropin-releasing hormonal agonists are examples of hormonal therapy.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005). Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology. (10th ed.). Saunders. ISBN 0-7216-2921-0.
  2. ^ a b c Raffi L, Suresh R, McCalmont TH, Twigg AR (December 2019). "Cutaneous endometriosis". International Journal of Women's Dermatology. 5 (5): 384–386. doi:10.1016/j.ijwd.2019.06.025. PMC 6938861. PMID 31909163.
  3. ^ Bozkurt M, Çil AS, Bozkurt DK (December 2014). "Intramuscular abdominal wall endometriosis treated by ultrasound-guided ethanol injection". Clinical Medicine & Research. 12 (3–4): 160–5. doi:10.3121/cmr.2013.1183. PMC 4317157. PMID 24667221.
  4. ^ a b c d Sharma, Aviskar; Apostol, Radu (2023-03-25). "Cutaneous Endometriosis". StatPearls Publishing. PMID 32809753. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
  5. ^ Dridi, Dhouha; Chiaffarino, Francesca; Parazzini, Fabio; Donati, Agnese; Buggio, Laura; Brambilla, Massimiliano; Croci, Giorgio Alberto; Vercellini, Paolo (2022). "Umbilical Endometriosis: A Systematic Literature Review and Pathogenic Theory Proposal". Journal of Clinical Medicine. 11 (4): 995. doi:10.3390/jcm11040995. PMC 8879338. PMID 35207266.
  6. ^ Zhang, Ping; Sun, Yabing; Zhang, Chen; Yang, Yeping; Zhang, Linna; Wang, Ningling; Xu, Hong (2019). "Cesarean scar endometriosis: presentation of 198 cases and literature review". BMC Women's Health. 19 (1): 14. doi:10.1186/s12905-019-0711-8. PMC 6339338. PMID 30658623.

Further reading