Pertaining to or emanating from the endometrium.
- e. biopsy — punch biopsy specimens obtained in the mare and cow by passing the instrument through the cervix and controlling the site of the biopsy by a hand in the rectum.
- e. cups — ulcer-like structures in the endometrium of the pregnant mare. They are produced by the fetus but become detached from it. Their function is to produce equine gonadotropin, formerly PMSG.
- e. curettage — débridement of the endometrium by metal curette is not practiced in animals but a chemical equivalent, by the infusion of irritant substances, is used instead.
- e. cyst — in cows and ewes near caruncles; develop during uterine involution due to adhesions from the caruncle; no clinical importance.
- cystic e. hyperplasia — pathological hyperplasia of endometrium, as distinct from the physiological state, due in most instances to excessive and prolonged estrogenic stimulation; characterized by thickening of the endometrium, development of mucus-filled glands and the accumulation of mucus in the lumen of the uterus. Associated with cystic ovarian disease in cows. In ewes it is usually due to prolonged low level intake of phyto-estrogens, e.g. on subterranean clover pasture. It may be a precursor of or associated with pyometra, especially in the dog where the hormonal cause is progesterone. See also pyometra.
- e. folds — in the mare these run the length of the uterus as observed by fiberscope.
- e. glands — provide uterine fluid (histotrophe) on which the developing fetus depends for subsistence during its first few days of existence.
- e. hyperplasia with pyometra — see cystic endometrial hyperplasia.
- e. polyp — found in the bitch and may cause prolapse of the affected horn with the polyp visible in the vagina.
- e. regeneration — postpartum return to normal of the endometrium, e.g. in cows by the sloughing of superficial layers of caruncles.
