Comparative study of transvaginal ultrasonography and hysteroscopy in postmenopausal bleeding

Twenty-eight women with postmenopausal bleeding were retrospectively studied to assess the accuracy of transvaginal sonography (TVS) and hysteroscopy for diagnosing endometrial pathology. TVS was performed in all patients. Considering a cutoff value of less than or equal to 5 mm as normal, TVS showed normal findings in 14 patients (50%) and suggested endometrial abnormalities in other 14 (50%). Hysteroscopy could be performed in 24 patients (85.7%). In 17 (70.2%) cases no abnormality was found; an endometrial polyp was suspected in 6 (25%) and endometrial hyperplasia in 1 (4.8%) patient. All patients underwent endometrial biopsy or dilatation and curettage for histopathologic study. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for TVS and hysteroscopy were 100, 60.8, 35.7, and 100% and 100, 89.4, 71.4, and 100%, respectively. In our experience, both methods were highly sensitive, but hysteroscopy was more specific than TVS.