Value of endometrial thickness for the detection of endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia in asymptomatic postmenopausal women

Background: The role of transvaginal sonography (TVS) in screening endometrial cancer and hyperplasia is significant in postmenopausal women. The objective of this study is to determine the endometrium thickness (ET) cut-off to distinguish premalignancy and malignancy in asymptomatic postmenopausal women. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated data of 968 eligible patients among 2537 asymptomatic postmenopausal women with ET >= 5 mm examined by TVS who were subjected to hysteroscopy and endometrial biopsy between January 1, 2017, and June 30, 2020 in an urban tertiary specialized hospital in China. The patients were divided into two groups according to the pathology outcomes: benign, and atypical hyperplasia (AH) and endometrial carcinoma (EC). The risk factors and the optimal cut-off of ET for detecting AH and EC were determined by logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic curve. Results: 2537 patients were offered hysteroscopy during a 42-month period. Finally, 968 patients were included for further analysis. Of these, 8 (0.8%) women were diagnosed with EC and 5 (0.5%) women with AH. The mean ET of AH and EC group was substantially higher than that in benign group (10.4 mm vs. 7.7 mm, P < 0.05). ET was significantly correlated with AH and EC shown by logistic regression analysis with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.252 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.107-1.416, P < 0.001). The optimal cut-off value for AH and EC was found to be 8 mm with the maximum AUC of 0.715 (95% CI 0.686-0.743, P < 0.001), with a sensitivity of 0.846, a specificity of 0.609, positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of 2.164 and negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of 0.253. Conclusion: An ET cut-off of >= 8 mm shows a reasonable performance to detect AH and EC in asymptomatic postmenopausal women, thereby avoiding more invasive endometrial biopsy.

Automated summary

This study suggests that an endometrium thickness (ET) cut-off of >= 8 mm can effectively distinguish atypical hyperplasia (AH) and endometrial carcinoma (EC) in asymptomatic postmenopausal women, reducing the need for invasive endometrial biopsy.