Novel Diagnostic Methods for Endometriosis

Abstract

Endometriosis is a detrimental disease that affects millions of women globally often resulting in symptoms as serious as infertility. While this disease is so prevalent, limited research and funding in search of diagnostic methods exists to this day. Currently, the gold standard for diagnosing endometriosis is through an extremely invasive surgery called a laparoscopy. As many women do not want to go through with this surgery it leads to countless women around the world unaware of the fact that they possess this disease.  This paper intends to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of emerging diagnostic techniques such as biomarkers, imaging modalities, and additional tests for the early detection and diagnosis of endometriosis. Through a comprehensive literature review and examining existing studies, this paper aims to highlight the positives and negatives of various diagnostic methods in order to replace the gold standard invasive laparoscopy surgery. By evaluating these various diagnostic techniques, the use of biomarkers and targeting miRNA cells proved to be more promising for future diagnosis of endometriosis. They were cost-effective, reliable, and non-invasive. The other diagnostic methods were somewhat favorable however they lacked enough research and reliability. Through these evaluations, it is able to be seen that there are additional methods for diagnosing endometriosis which are far less invasive. More money and research is required in the field of endometriosis and women’s health, in general, to acquire FDA funding for these methods and allow for fewer women globally to suffer from the painful side effects of this harmful disease.