Asymptomatic thickened endometrium in postmenopausal women: malignancy risk.
To assess the diagnostic findings and determine the frequency of malignancy in postmenopausal women evaluated by office hysteroscopy for a thickened endometrium without bleeding.
Retrospective cohort (Canadian Task Force classification II-B).
Academic medical center in the Midwestern United States.
Over 3600 women underwent an office hysteroscopy between January 1, 2007, and October 20, 2011, for abnormal uterine bleeding or an abnormal ultrasound. Of these, 154 postmenopausal women had a thickened endometrium (>4 mm) and no bleeding.
Flexible office hysteroscopy using a 3.1-mm scope with saline as the distending media was performed for clinical reasons, and results were captured within a research database.
For the 154 women, the range of endometrial measurements was 4.2 to 28 mm (mean = 10.0 mm). Hysteroscopy diagnoses included 93 patients with polyps, 19 with myomas or uterine synechiae, and 34 with benign-appearing endometrium. Nine hysteroscopies were inadequate because of poor visualization (n = 1), cervical stenosis (n = 6), or patient discomfort (n = 2). Endometrial biopsies (EMBs) were performed in 109 patients, and none were found to have cancer or an atypical endometrium. Six had simple hyperplasia without atypia, and their endometrial measurements were within the range of the patients in our study who had a benign endometrium (5-15 mm, mean = 10.3). Of the women with a polyp, 73 (78.4%) subsequently underwent polypectomy. On final pathology, 1 had cancer (endometrial measurement = 24 mm), and 1 had complex hyperplasia with atypia (endometrial measurement = 17 mm). EMBs performed in the office for these 2 patients showed an insufficient endometrium and inactive endometrium, respectively.
Cancer and atypia can occur in asymptomatic women. Endometrial thickness was 17 mm or greater in 2 cases, and EMBs performed in the office were inconsistent with the final diagnosis. Hysteroscopy is important when ultrasound and EMB do not agree. Polypectomy may be indicated even in asymptomatic women, but further studies regarding an endometrial measurement threshold or polyp size are warranted.
Famuyide AO
,Breitkopf DM
,Hopkins MR
,Laughlin-Tommaso SK
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Hysteroscopy as a valid tool for endometrial pathology in patients with postmenopausal bleeding or asymptomatic patients with a thickened endometrium: hysteroscopic and histological results.
This study compares hysteroscopic and histopathological results in postmenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) and asymptomatic postmenopausal women with a thickened endometrium.
This is a retrospective study of 570 cases hysteroscopically examined between January 2008 and July 2012. The patients were followed up at the Istituto Tumori 'Giovanni Paolo II', Bari, Italy.
A total of 320 of the 570 cases were selected. The inclusion criteria were transvaginal ultrasound, hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy. In the AUB group, if the hysteroscopy results were normal, a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 100, 95, 71 and 100%, respectively, were achieved, while in the asymptomatic group these values were 100, 97, 90 and 100%, respectively. For both the group with polyps and that with myomas, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were 100%. For endometrial hyperplasia, hysteroscopy showed a sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of 81, 96, 87 and 93%, respectively, in the AUB group, while in the asymptomatic group, the sensitivity was 60%, the specificity and PPV were 100%, and the NPV was 98%. The sensitivity of hysteroscopy for endometrial cancer was 63%, the specificity 97%, the PPV 77%, and the NPV 95%.
In postmenopausal women with a thickened endometrium with or without AUB, hysteroscopy allows for an accurate diagnosis in benign endometrial pathology. Hysteroscopy also allows directed biopsies of suspicious lesions, which is useful in malignant endometrial pathology.
Loiacono RM
,Trojano G
,Del Gaudio N
,Kardhashi A
,Deliso MA
,Falco G
,Sforza R
,Laera AF
,Galise I
,Trojano V
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