Accuracy of outpatient endometrial biopsy in the diagnosis of endometrial cancer: a systematic quantitative review.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the accuracy of outpatient endometrial biopsy in diagnosing endometrial cancer in women with abnormal uterine bleeding.


METHODS
A systematic quantitative review of published research.


METHODS
Studies were selected if accuracy of outpatient endometrial biopsy was estimated compared with a reference standard. Diagnostic accuracy was determined by pooled likelihood ratios for positive and negative test results. There were 1013 subjects in 13 diagnostic evaluations reported in 11 primary studies.


RESULTS
A positive test result on outpatient biopsy diagnosed endometrial cancer with a pooled likelihood ratio of 66.48 (95% CI 30.04-147.13) while a negative test result had a pooled likelihood ratio of 0.14 (95% CI 0.08-0.27). The post test probability of endometrial cancer was 81.7% (95% CI 59.7%-92.9%) for a positive test and 0.9% (95% CI 0.4%-2.4%) for a negative test.


CONCLUSIONS
Outpatient endometrial biopsy has a high overall accuracy in diagnosing endometrial cancer when an adequate specimen is obtained. A positive test result is more accurate for ruling in disease than a negative test result is for ruling it out. Therefore, in cases of abnormal uterine bleeding where symptoms persist despite negative biopsy, further evaluation will be warranted.
Clark
T Justin
TJ
Academic Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Birmingham Women's Hospital, UK.
Mann
Christopher H
CH
Shah
Neil
N
Khan
Khalid S
KS
Song
Fujian
F
Gupta
Janesh K
JK
D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D001706:Biopsy / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014592:Uterine Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology*