Is there any way to diagnosis endometriosis without surgery?
Unfortunately, at this time, there are no blood tests that can definitively diagnose endometriosis. The only way to ascertain definitively whether a patient has endometriosis is to look inside of her body during a surgical procedure. About 20 years ago many were hopeful that the new CA-125 test would prove useful in diagnosing endometriosis. Of course, we will be happy to run this test for you. However, please just be aware that studies have repeatedly shown that it is not very predictive for either cancer or endometriosis. For example, the medical literature abounds with stories of women found to have cancer during surgery whose CA-125 levels had repeatedly come back normal. And while studies have found that women with endometriosis often do have elevated levels of CA-125, it is equally true that others show no elevation at all. Complicating matters further is the fact that even women without endometriosis sometimes have high levels of CA-125, particularly young women in their 20s.
CA-125 correlation graphs by Rui Alberto Ferriani
Please email us at office@camrannezhatinstitute.com for your questions about Blood tests.