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. 2020 Oct-Dec;24(4):e2020.00064.
doi: 10.4293/JSLS.2020.00064.

BCL-6 Overexpression as a Predictor for Endometriosis in Patients Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization

Camran Nezhat  1 , Anupama Rambhatla  1 , Catarina Miranda-Silva  1 , Atena Asiaii  1 , Kimsa Nguyen  1 , Aimee Eyvazzadeh  2 , Salli Tazuke  3 , Shruti Agarwal  1 , Sunny Jun  3 , Azadeh Nezhat  1 , Robert A Roman  1
Affiliations

BCL-6 Overexpression as a Predictor for Endometriosis in Patients Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization

Camran Nezhat et al. JSLS. 2020 Oct-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the positive predictive value (PPV) of endometrial BCL-6 overexpression as a noninvasive screening test endometriosis in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Methods: Retrospective cohort study at a university-affiliated private practice. Inclusion criteria were reproductive age females currently undergoing IVF with a diagnosis of unexplained infertility or unexplained recurrent pregnancy loss. Those with endometrial BCL-6 overexpression underwent laparoscopic surgery with an indication for treatment of suspected endometriosis. The primary outcome was the PPV of endometrial BCL-6 testing to surgically diagnose endometriosis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v.25.0.

Results: Seventy-five patients met inclusion criteria for our study. The PPV of BCL-6 testing for endometriosis was 96%. Of those patients without endometriosis, 100% had other inflammatory pelvic pathologies, which were diagnosed and treated at the time of laparoscopy.

Conclusions: Endometrial BCL-6 overexpression has a high PPV for diagnosing endometriosis and can help identify a patient population that may require surgical treatment before embryo transfer.

Keywords: BCL6; Endometriosis; In Vitro Fertilization; Recurrent Pregnancy Loss; Unexplained Infertility.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Visually Diagnosed Type I Endometriomas.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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