Detection of endometrial carcinoma: clinical judgement versus histologic examination

Dilatation and curettage (D&C) is routinely performed on patients with postmenopausal bleeding. The tendency is to rely on the results of the D&C rather than clinical judgment if the diagnosis is benign. In four of our patients treated with total abdominal hysterectomy, endometrial carcinoma was diagnosed even though earlier histologic examination with D&C had shown benign disease. All patients were 60 years of age or older. Three of the four patients had postmenopausal bleeding, and one patient had a Papanicolaou test that indicated an unexplained abnormality. All patients were obese (weighing more than 250 lb) and hypertensive. Other high-risk factors included diabetes mellitus in three and an elevated tumor marker antigen (CA125) in one. Frozen sections of tissue taken at D&C revealed no malignancy and failed to explain the postmenopausal bleeding. Rather than relying on these results, we assessed the high-risk factors and performed total abdominal hysterectomy immediately on all four patients. The results confirmed endometrial carcinoma. Immediate abdominal hysterectomy saved the patients additional anesthesia and delay in diagnosis.