[Epidemiology of endometrial hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma]

In a retrospective study characteristics of 729 climacteric and postmenopausal women with hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma of the endometrium are compared with those of 82 women with atrophic endometrium and 96 women with carcinoma of the cervix. In a prospective study 225 women with glandular-cystic, adenomatous and atypical hyperplasia of the endometrium have been checked by a control-curettage within a period of two months until four years following the first diagnosis. Low parity, disturbances of menstruation with anovulatoric bleedings during fertility period, adipositas, hypertension and diabetes mellitus in climacteric and postmenopausal women indicate a high risk of carcinoma of the endometrium. Hyperplasias of the endometrium in climacteric women cannot be considered as precursors of corpus carcinoma. They are the result of a temporary hormonal dysfunction. Prophylactic hysterectomy, however, should be performed, if adenomatous or atypical hyperplasia appears in older postmenopausal women with the indicators of high risk of endometriumcarcinoma as mentioned above.