Correlation of Uterine Blood Flow (UBL), Endometrial Thickness and Histopathology via Transvaginal Ultrasonoqraphy (TVS)

Abstract

Endometrial thickness and uterine Resistance Index of 140 women with abnormal uterine bleeding were studied by transvaginal ultrasonography and colour Doppler flow imaging. The results were reported and compared to histopathology obtained from dilatation and curettage. We found no abnormality if endometrium is less than 6 mm while the thickness more than 14 mm indicates endometrial histopathology. (Sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value are 100, 46.6 and 27.9% respectively). This will reduce unnecessary diagnostic curettage to a level of 38.5%. Although thick endometrium may be a sign of pathological process, no morphological feature that are unique to a malignant disease has been identified. However intratumoral neovascularization with low im pedance to blood flow was found and displayed by colour Doppler ultrasound in all the cancer cases. Both the endometrial thickness and intra tumoral blood flow were considered as a potential marker for endometrial carcinoma and may be useful for cancer detection in the future. (Thai J Obstet Gynaecol 1995;7:9-14.)