Review of histopathologic findings of endometrial biopsy done at a tertiary referral hospital in urban Ethiopia

Abstract Background An endometrial sampling procedure is a gold standard for the diagnostic evaluation of women with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) with primary aim to identify the cause, especially to determine whether carcinoma or premalignant lesions are present. The objective of the study is therefore to review endometrial biopsy specimen histopathological findings and associated factors at a tertiary referral hospital in urban Ethiopia. Methodology This is a two years retrospective analysis of cases of patients for whom endometrial biopsy was taken at a territory referral hospital in urban Ethiopia. Odd’s ratios, 95% confidence interval and p-value set at 0.05 were used to determine the statistical significance of the associations. Results A total of 277 patient records were analyzed and mean and the median age of the study patients were 41.89 and 40.00 years respectively. The commonest histopathologic finding was endometrial polyp 66 (23.83%), followed by proliferative endometrium 47 (16.97%) and secretory endometrium 25(9.03%). Endometrial hyperplasia, endometrial malignancy, and pregnancy complications were reported in 9 (3.25%), 13 (4.69%), and 25 (9.03%) of cases respectively. Endometritis was detected in 20(7.22%), while Tuberculous (TB) endometritis was reported in 3(1.08%) of cases only. Inconclusive and inadequate sample was reported in 30 (10.83%) and 34 (12.27%) of cases respectively. Endometrial polyp was associated with 40-49 years of age (OR= 12.56, 95% CI: 2.58-61.23). Conclusions Endometrial polyp was the commonest histopathologic finding followed by proliferative and secretory endometrium respectively. Rate of sample inadequacy is higher than most of the study reports which mandates to improve sampling technique to increase sample adequacy and routine transvaginal ultrasound for endometrial evaluation especially for those postmenopausal women to decide the necessity of endometrial sampling.