Article Text
Abstract
Objectives The diagnosis of endometrial cancer, the third most common among gynecological tumors in Brazil, must be made by anatomopathological examination of the biopsy of the endometrial cavity using hysteroscopy or semiotic curettage. Recently, the endometrial aspirate technique has been used in order to speed up the diagnosis as it is an easy, low cost, outpatient method, dispensing with more complex tests, such as hysteroscopy. The aim of the study was to compare the results of this technique with those of semiotic uterine curettage in women with suspected endometrial hyperplasia/carcinoma.
Methods Analytical and retrospective study by analyzing the medical records of 52 women between 41 and 83 years old at the outpatient clinic of Hospital das Clínicas Samuel Libânio, Brazil. Material collected by means of endometrial aspirate and uterine curettage from patients with endometrial thickening on ultrasound, with or without bleeding, uterine bleeding after menopause or abnormal uterine bleeding.
Results 52 patients evaluated with endometrial aspirate, 12 were diagnosed with endometrial adenocarcinoma and three with hyperplasia with endometrial atypia. The endometrial aspirate was positive in 8 of the adenocarcinomas, suspected in two and negative in two other cases. In atypical hyperplasia, aspirate was positive in one case and negative in two.
Conclusions The use of endometrial aspirate for diagnosis was 66.6% positive in this study, a satisfactory method in scenarios of limited availability of more accurate tests. However, further studies are needed to assess the sensitivity/specificity of the method, as well as standardization in the collection and interpretation of the findings.