Therapieansprechen bei Endometriose

RWTH Publications (RWTH Aachen)

Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic pain disorder affecting young women in their physical and mental well-being and thus impacting the healthcare system considerably. During my PhD project, I have analyzed studies on comorbid mental disorders in endometriosis patients and discussed them under regard of available neuroimaging studies. I have found that at least one-third of endometriosis patients suffer from such comorbid disorders and may require complementary psychiatric or psychotherapeutic therapy. According to the available neuroimaging studies, endometriosis is associated with alterations in the brain regions related not only to pain processing but also to emotion, cognition, self-regulation and reward. Further, our group conducted a study to investigate neurobiological changes in endometriosis. Within this study, clinical and psychological characteristics, thermal pain perception, voxel- and surface-based morphology were assessed in 27 patients with endometriosis, 26 women with endometriosis-independent chronic pelvic pain and 25healthy, pain-free female volunteers. Despite comparable pain intensity and burden of psychological distress, both patient groups exhibited distinct neurobiological patterns. Women with endometriosis demonstrated increased gray matter volume in the left cerebellum, lingual gyrus and calcarine gyrus compared to those with endometriosis-independent CPP. Patients with chronic pelvic pain had decreased gray matter volume in the right cerebellum in comparison to healthy, pain-free women. Additionally, severity of dysmenorrhea related to alterations in brain regions linked to pain-associated memory. Our findings demonstrate an important role of the cerebellum in pain regulation associated with endometriosis. Further research is required to improve understanding of interrelations between disease symptoms and neurobiological changes.

Authors 1

1. Luisa Maulitz corresponding Aachen

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   RWTH Aachen