Purpose: to evaluate the ovarian reserve of infertile patients with severe ovarian endrometriosis, submitted to excisional surgery of endometriomas and attended from February to November, 2008.
Methods: prospective study, including 30 patients with endometriosis grades III and IV, with severe ovarian impairment, submitted to excisional surgery of the endometriomas, and 30 patients with endometriosis grades I and II, allocated as a Control Group. The ovarian reserve was indirectly assessed, through the basal (U/L) follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), between the third and fifth days of the cycle, 12 months after the surgery. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated according to Quetelet's formula [weight (kg)/height(cm(2))]. The Mann-Whitney non-parametric U test was used to compare the variables 'age', 'BMI' and 'basal SFH' between the groups.
Results: there was no significant difference between the groups about age and BMI. Concerning basal FSH, in the group of patients with severe endometriosis, the average value was 7.0 U/L, while in the Control Group, it was 5.6 U/L (p=0.3), what demonstrates that the difference between the two groups was not significant.
Conclusions: the surgery did not affect the ovarian reserve of patients with severe ovarian endometriosis.