CORRELATION BETWEEN ENDOMETRIAL NEOVASCULARIZATION AND RISK OF ENDOMETRIAL MALIGNANCY IN POSTMENOPAUSAL WOMEN

Abstract

Introduction. The period that starts one year after the last menstruation is called menopause and it is divided into early and late menopause. Aim. To examine the correlation between endometrial neovascularization and the risk of endometrial malig-nancy in postmenopausal women. Methods. This is a prospective clinical study invol-ving 120 postmenopausal patients treated at the Univer-sity Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics-Skopje, di¬vi-ded into two groups: control and examination. The control group included 40 postmenopausal patients, hospitalized and operated due to urogenital pathology. The examined group consisted of 80 patients divided into two subgroups –the group with uterine bleeding and the other one without uterine bleeding. According to the ultrasound verified thickness of the endomet-rium, the two subgroups were divided according to endometrial thickness into: the first group with endo-metrial thickness from 5-8 mm; the second from >8-11 mm and the third group above 11 mm. We made ul¬tra-sound examination by measuring the resistant index (Ri) of the endometrium in both groups of patients as well as in subgroups, which were also divided into other subgroups according to endometrial thickness. Results. The probability of endometrial malignancy was significantly increased by 0.097 times in postme-no¬pausal patients. Conclusion. Doppler examination of endovascular neo-vas¬cularization (Ri) is a significant predictor of endo-met¬rial malignancy (p<0.05). Women with endometrial Doppler Ri>0.42 were 0.097 [p=0.029, 95% CI=0.012- 0.787] times less likely to have endometrial cancer than women with endometrial Doppler Ri≤0.42.