Correlation of ultrasound findings and endometrial histopathology in postmenopausal women

Comparison of ultrasound scan and histology of the endometrium was made in 90 postmenopausal women. Of these, 63 women had postmenopausal bleeding (group A) and 27 had had no bleeding (group B). Sensitivity of ultrasound to diagnose endometrial pathology was 91%, and all endometrial carcinomas, hyperplasias and pyometra were diagnosed by ultrasound. In 10 premenopausal women (group C), who had a hysterectomy for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, the ultrasound measurements of the endometrial wall thickness were within 1 mm of the actual thickness, as measured in the fresh unfixed specimen with a ruler. This preliminary study has shown that a normal ultrasound appearance of the endometrium in postmenopausal women reliably excludes significant endometrial pathology. Also, changes in the thickness and texture of the endometrium detected by ultrasound correlated with subsequent pathological findings.