Transvaginal ultrasound, uterine biopsy and hysteroscopy for postmenopausal bleeding

OBJECTIVES: To determine the importance of endometrial biopsy and transvaginal ultrasound in patients with postmenopausal bleeding. METHODS: Eighty patients with postmenopausal bleeding were submitted to transvaginal ultrasound followed by endometrial biopsy. Hysteroscopy and dilatation and curettage were carried out to confirm normality of the uterine cavity. RESULTS: The endometrial echo could be visualized in all patients with postmenopausal bleeding. The biopsy failed to detect one case (1.38%) of adenocarcinoma and 14 cases (17.5%) of endometrial polyps. The sensitivity in detecting endometrial malignancy was 94.44% for endometrial biopsy and 100% for transvaginal ultrasound, when the endometrial thickness was more than 8 mm. CONCLUSIONS: When the thickness of the endometrial echo is less than 3 mm there is no need for anatomopathologic investigation. When this limit was adopted, all cases were associated with endometrial atrophy, and when the limit was 4 mm or more, active endometria were detected, requiring further histopathologic investigation by hysteroscopy and directed biopsies. Above 8 mm, malignancy may be found.