Abstract
Objective. To evaluate the risk of premalignant and malignant pathology among endometrial polyps. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Minimal Access Surgical Training (MAST) center in a large teaching hospital. Methods. Among 248 patients seen in outpatient hysteroscopy clinic (1996-97), 62 had endometrial polyps. All patients had endometrial sampling for histological assessment. To determine the magnitude of malignant potential among polyps, we compared the pathological findings in polyps (cases) with non-polypoidal specimens (controls). Results. Out of 62 polyps, histologically 53 (85.5%) were benign, seven (11.3%) had hyperplasia, and two (3.2%) were associated with malignancy. Hyperplasia was more frequent in endometrial specimens with polyps than in those without (11.3% vs 4.3%, p =0.04), but the incidence of carcinoma in the two groups was the same (3.2% vs 3.2%, p =1.0). Conclusion. In abnormal uterine bleeding, hyperplasia was, but cancer was not, more common in women with endometrial polyps compared to those without polyps.