Evaluation of Endometrial Abnormalities in Asymptomatic Postmenopausal Women with Endometrial Thickening

Abstract

Background: Endometrial cancer is a prevalent gynecological malignancy typically characterized by abnormal uterine bleeding in postmenopausal women, although it can also manifest in asymptomatic patients. Asymptomatic postmenopausal women often display endometrial thickening, and research has shown associations between endometrial thicknesses of 5 mm or more and certain pathologies. However, it remains unclear whether specific pathologies are related to different diameters of thickened endometrium.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the diameters of endometrial thickness its histopathology, and the related symptoms in postmenopausal women who have incidental endometrial thickening and are not experiencing vaginal bleeding.

Methods: This study was conducted in Alzahra Teaching Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The inclusion criteria for the study comprised of postmenopausal women who had visited the clinics with symptoms other than vaginal bleeding and exhibited an endometrial thickness of more than 5 mm in ultrasound imaging. A total of eighty-four women were included in the final analysis. The participants were scheduled to undergo a Pap smear and endometrial biopsy (Pipelle biopsy). The histopathology of the endometrial samples was examined to test the research hypothesis.

Results: There was no statistically significant association between endometrial histopathologic findings and endometrial diameter (p-value = 0.12) or participants' chief complaints (p-value = 0.21).

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that endometrial thickening is not a reliable predictor for a specific endometrial pathology in postmenopausal women who do not experience vaginal bleeding.

Keywords: Asymptomatic endometrial thickness; Endometrial neoplasms; Endometrial sampling; Polyps; Post-menopause; Ultrasonography.