Endometrial Biopsy in Low-Risk Women: Are We Over-Investigating?

J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2022 Oct;44(10):1097-1101. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2022.05.010. Epub 2022 Jun 24.

Abstract

The appropriate age at which to perform endometrial biopsy for abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) is controversial. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of malignant and premalignant pathologies in women aged 41-49 years with AUB and without risk factors for endometrial cancer. Records of women who had undergone a biopsy at the gynaecology clinic of the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal between 2014 and 2018 were reviewed. Of the 209 women included in the study, 2 had atypical hyperplasia, which resolved without treatment, and 3 had hyperplasia without atypia. The remaining women had benign results, showing that the prevalence of malignant and premalignant endometrial pathologies is low in this subgroup of patients.

Keywords: biopsy; endometrial neoplasms; menorrhagia; overdiagnosis; premenopause.

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Endometrial Hyperplasia* / epidemiology
  • Endometrial Hyperplasia* / pathology
  • Endometrial Neoplasms* / pathology
  • Endometrium / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hyperplasia / complications
  • Risk Factors
  • Uterine Diseases* / complications
  • Uterine Hemorrhage / etiology