Received April 21, 2000
Accepted May 15, 2000

Endometriosis is a common disease defined as the growth of endometrial tissue outside the cavity. Often results in a vast array of gynaecological problems: dyspareunia, dysmenhorea and pelvic pain. ln 1927, the theory that endometriosis is due to the implantation of the retrograde endometrium, seeded in the peritoneal cavity by means of retrograde menstruation was published. This retrograde menstruation occurs in 90% of women; however, only 1% - 5% develops endometriosis. This suggests that other factor (s) determine the susceptibility of an individual to implantation and growth of this tissue, example, genetic susceptibility. A recent controlled prospective study, reported a prevalence of 38% in infertile women and 5% in others. When endometriosis causes structural damage an effect on fertility is obvious. It is widely accepted that minimal to mild endometriosis is associated with subfertility. There is growing consensus that the endometriosis is not the cause of infertility or at least the cause is multifactorial, and many possibilities have been suggested: ranging from altered folliculogenesis, ovulatory dysfunction, luteal phase defect, accelerated ovum transport, sperm phagocytosis impaired fertilization and defective implantation.