Endothelial Dysfunction Among Woman With Endometriosis After Surgical Treatment

Endometriosis is a chronic disease defined as an ectopic endometrial tissue outside the uterus, mostly in the pelvis. It is related to major morbidity and infertility. It is also associated with chronic inflammatory state and increased risk of atherosclerosis. Endothelial dysfunction plays an important and elementary role in the development of atherosclerosis. There are number of non-invasive tests for evaluating the endothelial function. One of them is FMD - "Flow Mediated Dilatation". It refers to dilation (widening) of an artery when blood flow increases in that artery after An intentional block of the blood flow. Clinical studies proved the efficacy of this method in predicting cardio-vascular events in patients with established heart disease and also as an independent risk factor, better than the traditional ones. An alternative method, developed in recent years, is evaluation of peripheral blood vessels tone - "Peripheral Arterial Tonometry" - (PAT). It evaluates the pulsatile blood volume of the blood vessels in the fingertips during reactive hyperemia. The obtained value "reactive hyperemic index" (RHI) correlates well with FMD as well with coronary arteries endothelial dysfunction. The test is performed by attaching two sensors to the patient's fingertips. Using this method requires short training interval, completely user-independent and the accepted result is a quantitive index. Because it takes only 15 minute to complete the test it well suited as a clinical tool or as a test for a large-scale clinical study. Endothelial dysfunction has been demonstrated among woman with endometriosis. After surgical removal of endometrial implants there was a substantial improvement in the endothelial function, by imaging (using FMD) and by inflammatory markers, so no difference was shown between them and healthy women, 2 years thereafter. In a large meta-analysis, evaluating 5,547 patients, every 1% improvement in the FMD scale resulted in a 13% decrease in the rate of cardio-vascular events. In a meta-analysis evaluating 5,547 patients a 13% reduction in the risk to cardio-vascular events was demonstrated for every 1% improvement in the FMD score. In this study the investigators will follow the endothelial function among women undergoing endometrial implants surgical removal, before and after the surgery, using PAT technology (ENDOPAT system). Inflammatory markers and quality of life parameters will also be evaluated. The follow-up will include one meeting 6 weeks after the procedure the investigators expect an improvement in the endothelial function among women who had endometriosis implants removal.