Occurrence of malignancy in endometrial polyps during postmenopause.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the occurrence of endometrial polyp malignancy in pre- and postmenopausal women with or without symptoms.


METHODS
A retrospective study was performed on 351 patients with endometrial polyps diagnosed by hysteroscopy.


RESULTS
Histological findings of biopsies obtained by operative hysteroscopy confirmed the presence of a simple endometrial polyp in 179 cases, polyps with typical simple hyperplasia in 42 cases, polyps with typical complex hyperplasia in 24 cases, polyps with atypical complex hyperplasia in three cases; carcinomatous polyps in seven cases; atrophic polyps in 17 cases; functional polyps in 56 cases; and inadequate sample in 23 cases. All seven patients with adenocarcinoma were symptomatic; six out of seven patients with adenocarcinoma were in postmenopause and one was in premenopause. The association between menopausal status and symptoms, and the presence of a malignant lesion was statistically significant (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed that prevalence of endometrial polyp malignant transformation was < or = 2.84% in postmenopausal and symptomatic patients.
Department of Gynaecology, Perinatology and Child Health, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy. bruno.mossa@uniroma1.it
B
B
Mossa
F
F
Torcia
F
F
Avenoso
S
S
Tucci
R
R
Marziani
D018269:Carcinoma, Endometrioid / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000473:pathology; D004714:Endometrial Hyperplasia / Q000473:pathology*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015907:Hysteroscopy; D011127:Polyps / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D017698:Postmenopause; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies