[Endometriosis--implantation or metaplasie? (author's transl)]

The article deals with the various theories, hypotheses, localisations and experiments in connection with the genesis of uterine and extrauterine endometriosis. It is explained that there is not just one single valid cause; rather, it will be necessary to resort to various theories, depending on the localisation of the endometrial heterotopia. The article describes the case of a young woman with genital malformation combined with ovarial endometriosis. This malformation syndrome is known as Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster syndrome with congenital aplasia of the vagina and a rudimentary uterus bicornis solidus. Since such uteri do not contain any endometrium which is capable of functioning, this would exclude any canalicular, haematogenic, lymphogenic, embolic, metastatic or homotransplantational cause of endometriosis. In fact, ovarial endometrial tissue heterotopia is due to pluropotentiality of the coelomic epithelium and is produced by indentation of cortical epithelium and segmentation.