CLINICAL-SIGNIFICANCE OF ENDOMETRIAL FLUID COLLECTIONS IN ASYMPTOMATIC POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Routine vaginal ultrasonographic evaluation of pelvic organs was perfo rmed in asymptomatic postmenopausal women to evaluate the diagnostic s ignificance of sonographic findings of endometrial fluid collections i n the presence of a thin endometrium in postmenopausal women. The stud y included nine women aged 61 to 79 years who had been postmenopausal for 7 to 30 years, and in whom endometrial fluid collections were inci dently demonstrated. Endometrial samplings followed the ultrasonograph ic examinations in all nine patients, and the correlation between the histologic report and the endometrial ultrasonographic thickness was e valuated. The diameter of the endometrial fluid collections varied fro m 3 to 12 mm. The thickness of the endometrium surrounding the fluid r anged from 1 to 3 mm. Of the nine endometrial samples examined, five r evealed atrophic endometrium, three had insufficient material for hist ologic evaluation, and one specimen revealed well-differentiated adeno carcinoma. The woman in whom endometrial carcinoma was diagnosed under went total abdominal hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and lymph node sampling. The pathologic examination confirmed the pre vious histologic finding, and deep penetration into the myometrium was noticed with intact lymph nodes. Endometrial fluid collections found in asymptomatic postmenopausal patients still may be associated with e ndometrial malignancy, even in the presence of thin endometrium.