Evaluation of Endometrial Abnormalities in Asymptomatic Postmenopausal Women with Endometrial Thickening.

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Abstract

BackgroundEndometrial 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.AimThe 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.MethodsThis 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.ResultsThere was no statistically significant association between endometrial histopathologic findings and endometrial diameter (p-value = 0.12) or participants' chief complaints (p-value = 0.21).ConclusionOur 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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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. Similar content being viewed by others 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.

References

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B Shokohi: data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing. A Sani: manuscript writing/editing, submitting process. Corresponding author Ethics declarations Conflict of interest 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. Consent to Participate All participants provided written informed consent and and their confidentiality was assured. Declaration of generative AI in the writing process During the preparation of this work the authors used GPT-4 for language editing. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of publication. Additional information Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. 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. Rights and permissions Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. About this article Cite this article 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 Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13224-024-01979-5

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