title: Ultrasonic assessment of the postmenopausal uterus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the role of different forms of ultrasound in the evaluation of peri- and postmenopausal uterus.
  
  
  METHODS
  B-mode ultrasound, colour and pulsed Doppler sonography, three-dimensional ultrasound and three-dimensional power Doppler sonography are non-invasive tools used repeatedly for assessing morphology and vascularity of the uterus and uterine lesions in peri- and postmenopausal patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The application of transvaginal colour Doppler to the peri- and postmenopausal patients for the screening for endometrial and myometrial malignancy may be a viable option if combined with ovarian screening in the same scan. In this way the capital costs would be shared and oncological preventive medicine for postmenopausal women could be initiated. Three-dimensional and power Doppler ultrasound offers improved visualisation of uterine lesions, displays an entire volume, offers accurate volume estimation and enables retrospective review of stored data. Interactive rotation of power Doppler rendered images provides improved visualisation of the uterine vasculature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further technological development of the ultrasound imaging techniques could result in reduction of both the potential risks and economic cost of the invasive diagnostic procedures in postmenopausal patients such as dilatation and curettage operations. Same techniques can be used for early detection of endometrial malignancy in asymptomatic postmenopausal women as well as for prediction of the depth of myometrial invasion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medical School University of Zagreb, Sveti Duh Hospital, Sveti Duh 64, Zagreb, Croatia. asim.kurjak@public.srce.hr
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kupesic
authors.forename: Asim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurjak
authors.forename: Elmira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hajder
mesh_terms: D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D017698:Postmenopause; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014599:Uterus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*