What does adenomyosis mean?

Adenomyosis is a type of endometriosis. Whenever adenomyosis occurs, most patients will experience increased menstrual flow and prolonged menstrual periods. Some severe cases will also experience dysmenorrhea, and the pain is excruciating every time the period comes. But when the doctor says it is adenomyosis, many people don’t understand what it means. What does adenomyosis mean? Let’s find out together!

Adenomyosis is a disease in which endometriosis forms on the myometrium of the uterus and is considered internal endometriosis. Normal endometrium only grows on the surface of the uterine cavity. If it grows downward beyond this range and invades the muscle layer, it becomes a disease called adenomyosis. If the lesion is confined to one location, it becomes an adenomyoma.

Treatment should be based on the patient's symptoms and age. Conservative treatment may be used if symptoms are relieved by symptomatic treatment with indomethacin, naproxen, or ibuprofen or if the patient is near menopause. Adenomyosis mostly occurs in multiparous women aged 30 to 50 years old. About half of the patients also have uterine fibroids, and about 15% of the patients have endometriosis. Although serial section examinations of autopsy specimens and specimens removed from the uterus due to illness have revealed endometrial tissue in 10 to 47% of the myometrium, only 70% of them have clinical symptoms.

Through serial section examination of adenomyosis specimens, it was found that some endometrial lesions in the myometrium were directly connected to the endometrium on the uterine cavity surface. Therefore, it is generally believed that trauma to the uterine wall during multiple pregnancies and childbirth and chronic endometritis may be the main causes of this disease. In addition, since there is a lack of submucosal layer under the basement membrane of the endometrium and adenomyosis is often accompanied by uterine fibroids and endometrial hyperplasia, some people believe that the invasion of the basal endometrium into the myometrium may be related to the stimulation of high estrogen.

About 30% of patients do not have any clinical symptoms of adenomyosis. Any multiparous woman over 30 years old who experiences increased menstrual flow, prolonged menstrual periods, and progressive dysmenorrhea that worsens year by year, and whose uterus is uniformly enlarged or has localized nodular protrusions, is hard and tender, and the tenderness is particularly significant during menstruation, should first be considered as having adenomyosis. B-mode ultrasound examination can show irregular echo enhancement caused by the implanted endothelium in the muscular layer.

After reading the above introduction to adenomyosis, I believe you have a better understanding of adenomyosis. If this disease occurs, you should go to the hospital for a detailed examination and timely treatment. Especially when dysmenorrhea occurs, it is necessary to take some measures to relieve the symptoms. In addition, women with this symptom must take good care of themselves.