[An integrated histogenetic concept of internal and external endometriosis].

The authors have studied the embryology of the uterus and have studied the comparative morphology of the internal foci of endometriosis, as well as the endometrium itself during the menstrual cycle. These studies have led them to think that the foci of endometriosis, whether they are internal or external, come from cells of coelomic mesothelium that persists in the transitional zone between the myometrium and the endometrium of the uterus, or in the mesothelium that covers the ovary, the tube and the pelvis under the stimulus of substances that are present in degenerate endometrial tissues during menstruation. This unitary idea of histogenesis makes it possible to consider under one heading, if not to unite, all endometriosis occurring anywhere according to their histogenic presentation under the same conditions of the tissues that surround them. It also makes it possible to explain the morphological similarity of endometriosis with the endometrium, although the biological behaviour of the two tissues is different. There is therefore a relationship between endometrium and endometriosis but not a filial one.