title: Diagnostic reliability of Mi-Mark helix technique in endometrial neoplasia.
abstract: To evaluate the diagnostic reliability of the Mi-Mark helix technique in endometrial neoplasia, 138 women with abnormal uterine bleeding underwent a prospective study of Mi-Mark sampling of the uterine cavity before dilatation and curettage. Of one hundred thirty-eight patients, 42% had postmenopausal bleeding and 18% had perimenopausal bleeding. The acceptability of this procedure by patients and physicians was remarkable. All invasive endometrial carcinomas were detected by Mi-Mark cytology. The most serious limitation of this technique was its failure to detect a large number of hyperplasias without atypia. Examination of a cell block along with cytology would facilitate the histopathologic diagnosis, especially of hyperplasia. The results of this study appear to justify the use of this procedure in high-risk patients.
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003581:Cytodiagnosis / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D004714:Endometrial Hyperplasia / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology