title: The diagnostic value of power Doppler measurements in the endometrium of women with postmenopausal bleeding.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective was to evaluate the accuracy of blood flow measurements by power Doppler in endometrial vessels in women with postmenopausal bleeding (PMB).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty consecutive patients with PMB participated in the study. Endometrial thickness and power Doppler measurements of small vessels in the endometrium and subendometrial tissue were performed prior to dilatation and curettage. Correlation between Doppler indices, endometrial thickness (by transvaginal sonography), and histopathologic examination was performed. A Student t test was used for statistical analysis with P < 0.05 as the level of significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fourteen positive cases were found: 11 endometrial cancers, 1 sarcoma, 1 simple hyperplasia, and 1 complex hyperplasia with atypia. Measurements of endometrial thickness using a cutoff point of 5 mm revealed a sensitivity of 78% and specificity of 45.6% (P > 0.05, NS) for detecting endometrial pathology. Power Doppler measurements (pulsatility index cutoff point = 1.0) revealed a sensitivity of 85. 7% and specificity of 89% (P = 0.001) for detecting endometrial pathology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The noninvasive methods for endometrial evaluation are not sensitive enough to exclude endometrial pathology. When invasive methods could not be performed, the combination of transvaginal sonography and power Doppler imaging provided the best results. When both modalities are negative, the probability of cancer is less than 5%.
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Rambam Medical Center, Haifa, Israel. amnonamit@hotmail.com
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amit
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ganem
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kerner
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004717:Endometrium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging