Objective: To investigate the clinical value of the serum CA19-9 level in comparison with the serum CA125 level for diagnosing and determining the severity of endometriosis.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Department of Comprehensive Reproductive Medicine in a university hospital.
Patient(s): One hundred one women with endometriosis and 22 without endometriosis participated in this study.
Intervention(s): Blood samples were collected before the operation (laparoscopy, oophrectomy, cystectomy, and/or hysterectomy), and tissue samples of ovarian chocolate cysts were collected during the operation.
Main outcome measure(s): The serum CA19-9 and CA125 levels and the localization of these antigens in ovarian chocolate cysts.
Result(s): The mean serum CA19-9 levels in patients at all stages of endometriosis were significantly higher than those in patients without endometriosis, and serum CA19-9 levels significantly correlated with the Revised American Fertility Society classification scores. Intense staining of CA19-9 was observed in 15 of the 20 samples of ovarian chocolate cysts.
Conclusion(s): CA19-9 is a useful marker for determining the severity of endometriosis.