Main findings
This international, cross-sectional online survey revealed a significant
disparity between the present-day evidence for the utility of imaging
for endometriosis and a diverse international population’s comprehension
of this utility. The vast majority of respondents believe surgery is a
tool that can diagnose endometriosis and that the non-invasive tools
(imaging, blood tests) cannot diagnose endometriosis. Ultrasound could
diagnose endometriosis in the opinion of 28.8% of the respondents, and
MRI 16.6%. Respondents who had a surgical diagnosis of endometriosis
were far less likely to select ultrasound as a diagnostic tool in
comparison to those who were diagnosed in a non-surgical fashion.
Approximately one-third of respondents were not aware of which phenotype
of endometriosis could be diagnosed using ultrasound. However, roughly
one in three were aware endometriomas were diagnosable using ultrasound,
while one in five and one in seven believed ultrasound could diagnose
deep endometriosis and superficial endometriosis, respectively. Access
to an advanced TVS in their region was not considered possible for the
majority of the respondents.