Sonohysterography for evaluation of endometrial abnormalities associated with tamoxifen therapy for breast cancer

• Published in: Egyptian journal of radiology and nuclear medicine 2013-12, Vol.44 (4), p.953-958
• Main Authors: El Sheikh, Hesham, Atwa, Khaled, Sammour, Mohamed Abdulmajed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Endometrial biopsy; Endometrial polyp; Sonohysterography; Tamoxifen
• ISSN: 0378-603X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrnm.2013.07.001

To evaluate sonohysterography for the diagnosis of endometrial abnormalities in women treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer. We assessed 37 women treated with tamoxifen for breast cancer who underwent sonohysterography and correlative endometrial biopsy for evaluation of postmenopausal bleeding or thickened endometrium greater than 8mm. In 14 patients, endometrial biopsy was followed by endovaginal sonography to ensure removal of endometrial pathology. Sonohysterography findings were compared with histopathology results. Sonohysterography findings coincided with histopathology results in 27 of 37 cases including 19 of 23 cases of endometrial polyps, 6 of 8 cases with thickened endometria and two cases had normal endometrium. Sonohysterography findings did not coincide with histopathology in 3 of the 14 cases who underwent endovaginal sonography after endometrial biopsy compared to 7 of the 23 cases who did not undergo such examination and 4 of these missed 7 cases were for endometrial polyps. Sonohysterography is a useful procedure for the diagnosis of endometrial abnormalities in tamoxifen-treated women. Endometrial abnormalities are better diagnosed on sonohysterography than on endometrial biopsy which has the limitation of some missed endometrial polyps, a problem that may be minimized by performing endovaginal sonography after endometrial biopsy.