New scan raises hope for earlier endometriosis diagnosis

Endometriosis is thought to affect around one in 10 women in Ireland.

The innovative technique uses CT scans combined with a molecular tracer to detect areas of early endometriosis, which is often overlooked by conventional scans.

Scientists say that, if confirmed in larger trials, this approach could provide women with answers about their symptoms sooner.

Endometriosis is thought to affect around one in 10 women in Ireland. The condition causes tissue similar to the lining of the womb to grow elsewhere in the body and is often painful.

Symptoms can be severe and wide-ranging, from heavy periods to extreme tiredness and abdominal pain, often mimicking other conditions.

Those affected frequently face a series of tests, such as ultrasounds and sometimes MRI scans.

However, these standard scans are believed not to always pick up on the disease and mainly detect changes that often appear with more advanced diseases, says Dr Tatjana Gibbons, lead researcher on the study, per The BBC.

"This means many struggle with symptoms, despite being told they have normal imaging results.

"Getting a diagnosis earlier can help people make decisions and plans about their life," Dr Gibbons adds.

Even though women can be offered some treatments without a definitive diagnosis, the only way to obtain one is through a laparoscopy, where a small camera is inserted through a small cut in the abdomen. This process can take years to happen.

In the Oxford study, 19 people with confirmed or suspected endometriosis underwent a CT scan along with an injection of a molecular tracer called maraciclatide. It is attached to areas where new blood vessels were forming, which is thought to be a key part of early endometriosis growth.

The new technique was able to detect the presence or absence of endometriosis in 16 women, as well as correctly picking up 14 of the 17 cases of endometriosis that were later confirmed by surgery.

Dr Gibbons described the findings as “exciting.”

The technique "offers a highly promising diagnostic and monitoring tool, particularly for superficial peritoneal endometriosis [thought to be an early form of the disease], which is the most common and yet the hardest type of endometriosis to identify".

Dr Lucy Whitaker, gynaecologist and researcher at the University of Edinburgh, says there is a "desperate need for new non-invasive imaging techniques".

"This is really exciting preliminary data that needs further studies," she says. "If confirmed, that gives us a real opportunity to intervene at an earlier stage - and help people get a diagnosis and potentially consider treatment earlier on."

The innovative technique could play a role in monitoring how the disease changes over time and how different treatment options work, too.

Dr Whitaker added that the scans and tracer involve radiation exposure, which must be carefully weighed against the risks of procedures such as laparoscopy.

The work is published in the journal The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health and led by the Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford and Serac Healthcare.