- Endometriosis is a condition resulting from the appearance of endometrial tissue outside the uterus
- It is characterised by pelvic pain, especially associated with menstruation
- Symptoms can include pain or discomfort during sexual intercourse, and infertility issues
- The cause is not known, and there is currently no cure
Aberdeen Centre for Women's Health Research (ACHWR) leaders Professor Kevin Cooper, Dr Lucky Saraswat and Professor Siladitya Bhattacharya have developed a programme of research which focused on developing an earlier diagnosis to minimise negative impact on the quality of life, and on looking into optimal treatment that minimises recurrence and allows fertility preservation.
Our research leaders currently lead three out of the four clinical trials for endometriosis in the UK; PRE-EMPT, REGAL and DIAMOND. They are multi-centre clinical trials funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR). The PRE-EMPT study is complete and will be published soon. The REGAL trial is comparing long-term GnRHa with added HRT to further keyhole surgery for treatment of endometriosis in women who experience recurrence of pain after surgery but wish to preserve their fertility. DIAMOND is a research study to compare surgery with hormone treatment for women with deep endometriosis.
Aberdeen is a major collaborator in the ongoing EU Horizon 2020 endometriosis project. Aberdeen is leading on the work package to look at geographical distribution and prevalence of endometriosis and creating a prediction model using primary and secondary care data to aid earlier diagnosis of endometriosis and reduce diagnostic delay.
Additionally Aberdeen is collaborating with Edinburgh for two pilot trials for novel treatments of endometriosis, due to start in Oct this year. These include:
- EPIC2 - exploring dichloroacetate vs placebo for treating endometriosis (novel non hormonal treatment)
- Endocan - exploring cannabinoids vs placebo + usual treatment for endometriosis pain management.
Researchers:
PhD Students:
- Mr Dolapo Ayansina - Prevalence and distribution of endometriosis, creating a prediction model to reduce delay in diagnosis