Differences between proximal and distal endometrial monolayer thickness in women aged over 50 years undergoing saline infusion sonohysterography

Background Saline infusion sonohysterography (SIS) is a procedure performed to evaluate the endometrium in women with postmenopausal bleeding. Purpose To investigate differences in endometrial monolayer measurements in women aged >50 years undergoing SIS. Material and Methods Retrospective study of women aged >50 undergoing SIS. Endometrial echo (EE) was measured according to the International Endometrial Tumor Analysis (IETA) guidelines. Monolayer thickness was compared between anterior and posterior uterine walls and between the monolayer that was proximal or distal to the ultrasound probe. Presence and location of focal thickening and polyps on each of the monolayers were assessed. Results SIS was performed in 608 patients. Of them, 485 (79.8%) had anteverted, 85 (14%) retroverted, and 38 (6.2%) a midposition uterus. The mean posterior monolayer was thicker than the anterior monolayer (2.14 mm vs. 1.88 mm; P = 0.002). The distal monolayer was thicker than the proximal layer in both anteverted and retroverted uteri (2.18 mm vs. 1.84 mm; P < 0.0001). In 16% of women, the difference between distal and proximal monolayers was ≥1 mm. Focal thickening was seen 3.3 times more frequently in the distal endometrium. Among women with a double layer EE >4 mm, 18.8% had a proximal layer of <2 mm while only 4.6% had a distal EE <2 mm. Conclusion Distal endometrium measures thicker than the proximal endometrium in most SIS cases and in one out of six women, the difference is >1 mm. The distal layer is three times more likely to contain focal thickening. Sonologists should be conscious of possible enhancement artifact when measuring the EE during SIS.

Clear Cell Carcinoma of the Endometrium in a Patient Presenting with Postmenopausal Bleeding but Negative Endometrial Biopsy

Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynecological malignancy in the USA with approximately 66,570 cases and 12,940 deaths in 2020. Clear cell carcinoma (CCC) of the endometrium is an estrogen-independent type II endometrial cancer which accounts for &#x3c;5% of endometrial cancer. When diagnosed roughly, 45% of patients have extrauterine metastases. Current American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology guidelines recommend transvaginal ultrasound for postmenopausal bleeding and a biopsy for those with endometrial thickness &#x3e;5 mm. However, we present a case of a postmenopausal woman with a history of fibroid where endometrial biopsy has failed to make diagnosis twice. Hence, further testing should be performed in patients with unexplained postmenopausal bleeding including vaginal hysterectomy with lymph node dissection.

Comparison of Pipelle and Hysteroscopy with D&C in Postmenopausal Patients

Objective: The aim of the study is to compare the pipelle method and hysteroscopy with D&C in postmenopausal patients Methods: In this prospective study, only those postmenopausal patients with postmenopausal bleeding and/or with a sonographically highly developed endometrium who were referred for hysteroscopy with D&C were included. A total of 92 patients were included in this study. Before each procedure, patients were explicitly informed about the study and gave consent. On the condition of anonymity of personal data (surname and first name, date of birth) and after signing a special informed consent form, the patients were allowed to be included in the study. The study was performed as a double-blind study. The obtained histologies (from pipelle and D&C) were sent separately to the same pathologist. Results: The group with malignant and premalignant findings has a central role in our study. After evaluation of the histologically malignant findings from the pipelle and the D&C, the sensitivity of the pipelle in our study was 82%. Conclusion: Endometrial biopsy is an important step to exclude endometrial carcinoma in postmenopausal bleeding. The aim is to minimize the burden and invasiveness of the procedure while maintaining a high degree of diagnostic certainty to avoid unnecessary invasive surgery. The pipelle sampling can be used as an outpatient method without anaesthesia during routine examination. Our study shows that this method of sampling is a safe, accurate and cost-effective outpatient procedure with high sensitivity for the detection of endometrial carcinoma.

Relationship between Transvaginal Ultrasound Endometrial Volume, Body Mass Index and Endometrial Pathology in Women with Postmenopausal Bleeding

Background Menopause is recognized to have occurred after one year of amenorrhea, for which there is no other obvious pathological or physiological cause. Perimenopause should include the period immediately prior to the menopause (when the endocrinological, biological and clinical features of approaching menopause commence) and the first one year after menopause. Objectives The aim of the study is classification of patients into those with benign endometrial pathology and those with endometrial hyperplasia or carcinoma using endometrial volume and BMI. Patients and Methods This observational cross sectional study was conducted at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Ain Shams University Hospital from March 2019 till January 2020. The population of this study was 100 menopausal women with postmenopausal bleeding ≥12 months and endometrial thickness by TVUS ≥5 mm. Results According to histopathology of endometrial carcinoma, statistical analysis of our data revealed that age, menopausal duration and BMI were significantly highest. Parity was significantly lowest. Endometrial volume was significantly highest in carcinoma (7.9±2.9 cc). Age, menopausal duration, parity and endometrial volume had significant moderate diagnostic performance in predicting endometrial carcinoma but BMI had significantly low. Age ≥ 62.0, menopausal duration ≥ 11.0 and parity ≤3.0 had low diagnostic characteristics in diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma but endometrial volume ≥ 6.0 had high sensitivity but low other diagnostic characteristics in the diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma. According to histopathology of endometrial hyperplasia, statistical analysis of our data revealed that age, menopausal duration, BMI, parity and endometrial volume had no significant diagnostic performance in the diagnosis of endometrial hyperplasia. Conclusion In our study, analysis of data revealed that the using of transvaginal measurement of endometrial volume is the best predictor of endometrial cancer with a positive correlation with BMI.

The Cervical pap smear cytological changes with clinicopathological correlation in a sample of Iraqi patients

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the role of Pap test in detecting pre-cancerous lesions in Iraqi women aged 45 years to 85 years, correlate the pap result with patient’s age, parity, number of births, number of abortions, chief complaint, and clinical cervical exam, and to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of the pap test in correlation to histopathological examination. Methods: Women who attended the outpatient gynaecological clinic of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Baghdad medical city, Baghdad, Iraq, from January 2019 to January 2020 who had different chief complaints were selected for the study. Women who are 45 years to 85 years old were included in the study. A Pap smear was used for all women to screen for cervical cancer and the results were reported according to the 2014 Bethesda system. The data analysis was done utilizing statistical package for social sciences version 24 (SPSS v24). Results: Total number of pap smears analyzed were 510, NILM (negative for intraepithelial lesions or malignancy) constituted major group 464/510 (91%) and epithelial cell abnormality were 46/510 (9%), age is significantly correlated with increasing rate of pre-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions in women and the significance of vaginal discharge & postmenopausal bleeding and its association with premalignant changes in the cervix. The sensitivity of Pap test is 94%, the Specificity was 60% and accuracy rate 74%. Conclusion: There is significant correlation between Pap smear abnormality and increasing age, vaginal discharge and postmenopausal bleeding, were evident in this study.