Histopathological pattern of endometrial sampling performed for abnormal uterine bleeding

Abstract EN

Background and Objective : Abnormal uterine bleeding is a challenging gynecological problem caused by various endometrial pathologies.

The present study aims to identify the pattern of histopathological diagnoses encountered in women of various age groups presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding.

Design : A retrospective age specific comparative analysis.

Setting : Department of Pathology.

Method : Two thousand two hundred ninety-five endometrial samples from women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding from January 1995 to June 2008 were retrieved and analyzed.

Result : The commonest histopathological diagnosis was secretory endometrium 571 (24.9%), followed by proliferative endometrium 498 (21.7 %), endometrial polyp 227 (9.9 %), disordered proliferative endometrium 200 (8.7 %), simple cystic hyperplasia 160 (7 %), chronic endometritis 134 (5.8%), inactive endometrium 126 (5.5 %), atrophic endometrium 70 (3.1 %), uterine malignancies 41 (1.8 %), complex hyperplasia without atypia 33 (1.4 %) and finally complex hyperplasia with atypia 15 (0.7 %).

Two hundred twenty (9.6 %) revealed no endometrial tissue and were considered insufficient for diagnosis.

Uterine malignancies and complex hyperplasia with atypia were more common in the age group of 52 years and older, 3.3% and 1.2 % respectively.

Conclusion : The present study revealed that secretory and proliferative endometrium are the most common endometrial histopathological patterns identified in endometrial samples obtained for abnormal uterine bleeding in our region.