Immunologic characteristics of peritoneal fluid in endometriosis

: Increased volume of peritoneal fluid is found more frequently in patients with endometriosis (51%) than in infertile patients without endometriosis (13%). Immunologic analysis of the peritoneal fluid shows that in patients with endometriosis the level of immunoglobulin G (IgG) increases. We analyzed 34 samples of peritoneal fluid from patients with and 13 from patients without endometriosis. The mean value of IgG in the group of patients with endometriosis was 7.73g/L and 3.94g/L in the control group. This difference is statistically significant, but there is no statistically significant difference in regard to immunoglobulin A (IgA), while it has been significant for immunoglobulin M (IgM) only in the third stage of the disease. In certain stages of illness there are no statistically significant differences in values of all three immunoglobulin types. A golden standard of immunoglobulin G in peritoneal fluid is 5g/L and in regard to this level we calculated the following: sensitivity, specificity, prognostic value and accuracy of the test. Sensitivity and positive prognostic value reached 85.3%. On the basis of these findings it can be concluded that if no endometriosis can be seen during laparascopy while the volume of peritoneal fluid is increased, immunologic analysis should be performed. If IgG values are 5g/L or higher, the patient should be treated as a patient with possible "precursor endometriosis".