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.
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Availability of Data and Materials
The data that support the findings of this study are not openly available due to reasons of sensitivity and are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank all the participants for participating in this study, Dr. Fatemeh Ghatresamani to participate in ultrasounds and Mrs. Khadijeh Zahed for her collaboration in data collection are highly appreciated.
Funding
This study was supported by the Women’s Reproductive Health Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.
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M Sayyah-Melli: protocol/project development, data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing. V Rahmani: protocol/project development, data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing. H Zarkhah: data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing. B Shokohi: data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing. A Sani: manuscript writing/editing, submitting process.
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The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial conflict of interests.
Ethical Approval
The ethics committee of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences approved the study. The ethics board approval number is code (IR.TBZMED.REC.1398.228). The study adhered to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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All participants provided written informed consent and and their confidentiality was assured.
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Manizheh Sayyah-Melli: Proffesor; Hasna Zarkhah: Gynecologist, Obstetrician; Behrooz Shokouhi Gogani: Assistant proffessor; Anis Sani Medical student, researcher, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
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Sayyah-Melli, M., Rahmani, V., Zarkhah, H. et al. Evaluation of Endometrial Abnormalities in Asymptomatic Postmenopausal Women with Endometrial Thickening. J Obstet Gynecol India 75 (Suppl 1), 37–42 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-024-01979-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-024-01979-5