Bladder endometriosis, a remarkable resemblance in a monozygotic twin

J J Van Beek

doi:10.1007/s10397-009-0487-1

Abstract

It is known for many years that heritability plays a role in the development of endometriosis in many patients. Deep endometriosis of the bladder is a rare presentation of the disease and bladder endometriosis was not reported in monozygotic twin studies so far. Since monozygotic twins share the same genes, concordance and differences in presentation of endometriosis may help to discriminate between genetic and environmental determinants. The remarkable resemblance in the presentation of bladder endometriosis in this monozygotic twin seems to indicate that genetic factors are of importance in the arising of deep endometriosis in the bladder too.

Highlights

Endometriosis affects 6–10% of women in their reproductive years and affects up to 35–50% of women with pain or infertility [1]
Urogenital tract is superficially involved in about 10–15% of cases but deep endometriosis of the bladder is estimated to be present in 1–2% of the patients only [2,3,4,5] Bladder endometriosis is frequently accompanied by other forms of pelvic endometriosis [4]
Heritability of endometriosis is well known from twin studies for many years, but this concerned mainly the increased risk to develop endometriosis and deep bladder endometriosis was not mentioned [8,9,10,11]

Summary

Introduction

Endometriosis affects 6–10% of women in their reproductive years and affects up to 35–50% of women with pain or infertility [1]. Urgency, suprapubic pain and dysuria [3, 6, 7] are the most frequent symptoms of bladder endometriosis and a positive. This manuscript complies with the Dutch law for scientific publication. Heritability of endometriosis is well known from twin studies for many years, but this concerned mainly the increased risk to develop endometriosis and deep bladder endometriosis was not mentioned [8,9,10,11]. Despite the rare occurrence of bladder endometriosis, a monozygotic twin presented at our clinic with similar complaints and remarkable resemblance in the presentation of disease

Case report

Findings

Discussion