External Validation of the Endometriosis Fertility Index (EFI) for Predicting Spontaneous Pregnancy after Surgery: Further Considerations on Its Validity

Background/Aims:The revised American Society for Reproductive Medicine classification of endometriosis has a limited predictive value for pregnancy after surgery. A tool for predicting spontaneous pregnancy or pregnancy following assisted reproduction technology (ART) represents a clinical need. This study aimed to (i) provide an external validation of the EFI score in predicting pregnancy in infertile Italian endometriosis women; (ii) evaluate the predictive value of EFI score on ART outcome for patients who previously attempted to spontaneously conceive after surgery. Methods: In 104 women with endometriosis, EFI score was calculated based on a prospective database data. Cumulative pregnancy rates curves were calculated using Kaplan-Meier (K-M) product limit estimate and log-rank test was used to evaluate differences between EFI groups. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted for EFI as a predictor of ART outcome. Results: Differences in time to non-ART pregnancy for the six EFI groups were statistically significant (log-rank, p = 1.4 x 10(-4)). The area under the curve (AUC) for EFI as ART outcome predictor was 0.75 (95% CI 0.61-0.89, p = 6.2 x 10(-3)), while the best cut-point for pregnancy was 5.5. Conclusion: The EFI score is a reliable scoring system to predict non-ART and ART pregnancy outcome after surgery for endometriosis. (C) 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel