Long-Term Postoperative Recurrence Rates and Fertility Outcomes After Endometrioma CO-Laser Vaporization: A Five-Year Follow-Up Experience.

STUDY OBJECTIVE

Although cystectomy remains the gold standard for the surgical treatments of endometriomas, concerns about the negative effect on ovarian reserve are rising. Laser-CO vaporization of endometriomas has shown encouraging data on ovarian reserve preservation, postoperative pregnancy rates, and recurrence. The aim of this study was to assess postoperative recurrence rate and pregnancy rate in patients with endometriomas managed by CO fiber laser vaporization after at least 5 years following surgery.

DESIGN

Retrospective study.

SETTING

Italian tertiary center from October 2023 to February 2024.

PATIENTS

We included women aged >18 years who underwent laparoscopic CO fiber laser vaporization for endometriomas. Age ≥40 years, previous ovarian surgery, previous salpingectomy or hysterectomy, negative histologic finding for endometriosis, or any findings of malignancy at histology were exclusion criteria.

INTERVENTION

Ovarian endometriomas were vaporized through laparoscopic CO fiber laser. After surgery, patients were included in a surveillance program with periodic clinical follow-ups.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Seventy-eight patients were included. The mean age was 33.2 ± 4.6 years, the basal anti-Müllerian hormone was 2.7 ± 1.9 ng/mL, and the median diameter of the endometriomas was 4 (3-5) cm. The median duration of follow-up was 72.5 months (67-84.5). After surgery, 65.5% (n = 36) of women with reproductive desire achieved a pregnancy, 55.6% spontaneously, and 44.4% through Assisted Reproduction Techniques, with a mean time to pregnancy of 17.7 ± 18.1 months. A Kaplan-Meier curve for the 7 patients who experienced an ipsilateral recurrence showed that the median time to recurrence was 26 months and the estimated rate of disease-free patients was 91.03% at 100 months (95% confidence interval 82.10%-95.62%).

CONCLUSION

CO fiber laser vaporization is an effective and safe surgical treatment of ovarian endometriomas, combining the advantage of being an ovarian tissue-sparing technique with long-term postoperative recurrence rate comparable with that described in literature for the cystectomy.