SONOHYSTEROGRAPHY VERSUS HYSTEROSCOPY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ENDOUTERINEPOLYPS

The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the usefulne ss of abdominal and vaginal sonohysterography (SHG; considered both si ngly and in combination) for the diagnosis of uterine polyps. Fifty fe rtile women hospitalized for hysterectomy for benign gynecologic indic ations were enrolled. Main outcome measures were preoperative conventi onal vaginosonography, transabdominal and vaginal SHG, hysteroscopy an d histologic evaluation of the surgical specimen. Conventional vaginos onography had a sensitivity of 33.3% and a specificity of 100%; the pr edictive values of abnormal and normal scans were 100 and 79.5%, respe ctively. Transabdominal SHG had a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 100%. The predictive value of an abnormal scan was 100 %; that of a normal scan 9 1.2%. Vaginal SHG had a sensitivity of 58.3% and a spe cificity of 100%; the predictive value of an abnormal scan was 100%, t hat of a normal scan 86.1%. The combination of the two kinds of SHG ha d a sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 100%; the predictive value of an abnormal test was 100% and that of a normal test 96.9%. The sen sitivity, specificity and predictive values of abnormal and normal hys teroscopic examination were all 100%. In conclusion, the presence of e ndouterine polyps can be effectively investigated by SHG; nevertheless , hysteroscopy is more sensitive, being capable of detecting even very small endouterine neoformations.