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Endometrial polyps: when to resect?

  • Gynecologic Oncology
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To determine the prevalence of malignant and premalignant endometrial polyps and to investigate the association of malignancy with specific factors.

Methods

This is a retrospective study of women submitted to hysteroscopic resection of endometrial polyps between January 2005 and July 2013 at a university hospital in southern Brazil. Data regarding clinical characteristics and pathology findings were collected from patient charts.

Results

Of 359 patients, 87.2 % had benign polyps and 9.9 % had hyperplasia without atypia. Atypical hyperplasia was found in 2.6 % of the sample. Endometrial adenocarcinoma was found in one woman (0.3 %). A correlation was observed between malignant/premalignant polyps and patient age, menopausal status, and uterine bleeding. All patients with malignancies/premalignancies had abnormal uterine bleeding. Higher frequency of malignant polyps was observed in tamoxifen users, however, without statistical significance (p = 0.059 %). Malignancy was not correlated with arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, hormone therapy, endometrial thickness, and polyp diameter.

Conclusions

Malignant/premalignant findings had low prevalence and were absent in asymptomatic patients. From the data of this retrospective study, it is unclear whether routine polypectomy should be performed in asymptomatic patients. Further prospective studies including larger numbers of patients are required to guide treatment recommendations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Master’s Program in Medical Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Julia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo & Maria Celeste Osorio Wender

  2. School of Medicine, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Ligia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo, Fernando Freitas & Maria Celeste Osorio Wender

  3. Menopause Outpatient Clinic, Obstetrics and Gynecology Service, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

    Julia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo & Maria Celeste Osorio Wender

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  1. Julia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo
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  2. Ligia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo
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  3. Fernando Freitas
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  4. Maria Celeste Osorio Wender
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Correspondence to Julia Marques da Rocha de Azevedo.

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The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors have had full control of all primary data and they agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested. The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

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de Azevedo, J.M., de Azevedo, L.M., Freitas, F. et al. Endometrial polyps: when to resect?. Arch Gynecol Obstet 293, 639–643 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-015-3854-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-015-3854-3

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