Endometrial pathology in postmenopausal women: Analysis of 112 cases in tertiary care centre

Background: Postmenopausal bleeding is a frequent finding accounting for 5-10% of women in gynaecology clinic. About 10% of these patients have primary or secondary malignancy. Aim: The histopathological patterns of endometrium, in postmenopausal women presenting with bleeding were studied along with the frequency of endometrial cancer. Materials and Methods: It was both a prospective and retrospective, observational study carried out over a period of one and half year in tertiary care teaching hospital on 112 postmenopausal women, above 40 year of age with history of one year of amenorrhoea without hormone replacement therapy. The samples were obtained by dilatation and curettage and endometrial pipelle procedure. Results and Discussion: Maximum patients belonged to age group of 46-50 year. The most common histopathological pattern observed was atrophic endometrium in 42 (37.5%) patients followed by simple hyperplasia in 13(11.6%) and endometrial polyp in 7(6.25%) cases. Irregular shedding of endometrium was diagnosed in 8 case (7.14%). The maximum patients of endometrial carcinoma (5.35 %) were noted in 61-65 age groups. Inflammatory pathology was found in 4(3.56%) and atypical hyperplasia was seen a single case (0.89%). In 8 cases, the opinion could not be offered due to inadequacy of sample. Conclusion: As the incidence of malignancy in postmenopausal period remains sufficiently high, it requires immediate investigation in the form of endometrial sampling for early diagnosis, prompt treatment and vigilant follow up. Keywords: Postmenopausal bleeding, Histopathology, Endometrial cancer.