This would be a victory in the fight against a disease which affects one in ten women in France: the High Authority for Health (HAS) is now recommending an innovative test to diagnose endometriosis, which could be applied for certain patients. If its advice is followed by the government, this saliva test judged “ promising » could be covered by Social Security and reduce diagnostic wandering.
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Endometriosis is a chronic disease affecting 10% of women of childbearing age : it presents mainly with intense pelvic pain, sometimes with fertility problems. But for patients, we must add another difficulty: making the diagnosis. On average, seven years are necessary for the name to be put on the eviland often by chance.
Reducing this delay to a few days would be one of the advantages of the saliva test developed by a French laboratory. The saliva sample taken, containing micro-RNA, is analyzed by high-throughput sequencing and an algorithm designed by artificial intelligence.
The result, delivered in a few days, would be more than 95% reliable according to studies carried out in women presenting symptoms. This test could thus make it possible to avoid invasive examinations, such as laparoscopy.
Called Endotest, the test “ demonstrated very good diagnostic performance », Underlines the High Authority for Health (HAS), which has taken steps to evaluate its effectiveness and usefulness.
HAS evaluates its accuracy at 95%
A year ago, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) remained cautious about the results of a first study including only 200 patients.
The High Authority for Health issued its opinion on Monday based on the extension of this same study to more than 1,000 women suffering from pelvic pain. Her evaluation highlighted a diagnostic accuracy of 95% for this test which she judges “ promising ” And ” innovative “.
If she recognizes “ high expectations » patients for this testthe HAS underlines “ the need to conduct additional studies aimed at evaluating its clinical usefulness in current practice “.
For the moment, the HAS recommends making this test accessible to women suffering from pain, but whose imaging examinations are normal. This would thus be access on an exceptional basis before considering definitive support: the body wants to have broader data on this test.
According to the laboratory that developed it, the test is available for sale in around ten countries in Europe and the Middle East, “ around 1,000 euros. »
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