The role of myometrial needle biopsies in the diagnosis of adenomyosis

Brosens JJ, Jan J. Brosens, J J Brosens, Barker FG, F G Barker, Fred G. Barker
Fertility and sterility · 1995 · vol. 63(6) , pp. 1347–1349 · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(16)57625-0 · PMID:7750614 · W2416475883
Other OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 30 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study investigated the diagnostic utility of myometrial needle biopsies for adenomyosis, evaluating their accuracy and safety in identifying the condition.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of myometrial needle biopsies in the diagnosis of adenomyosis uteri in vitro. DESIGN: Eight needle biopsies and 8 corresponding myometrial blocks were taken from 27 hysterectomy specimens with adenomyosis and 13 specimens with adenomyosis. Adenomyosis was graded on the basis of the depth of endometrial invasion into the myometrium: grade I, adenomyosis within the inner third of the myometrium; grade II, limited to the inner two thirds; and grade III, endometrial penetration into the outer one third of the myometrium. The sensitivity of 4 and 2 biopsies was calculated by conventional probability theory. RESULTS: Taking 8 needle biopsies from each uterus yielded sensitivities for grade I, II, and III adenomyosis of 9%, 64%, and 100% respectively, but the calculated sensitivities of two biopsies, taken at random, were only 2.3%, 20%, and 56%, respectively. There were no false-positive biopsies. CONCLUSIONS: Myometrial needle biopsy is a highly specific technique for the diagnosis of adenomyosis uteri but the sensitivity is low and dependent on the number of biopsies and the depth of adenomyosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosisadenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Biopsy, Needle Biopsy, Needle Biopsy, Needle Endometriosis Myometrium Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Humans Humans Myometrium Myometrium Sensitivity and Specificity Sensitivity and Specificity

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (7)

Cited by (30)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-10-15T06:08:49.021275+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:59:01.426159+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-17T06:32:46.214484+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK