A histopathological and immunohistochemistry analysis of endometrial lesions among women presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to histopathologically evaluate the morphological spectrum, apoptotic index (AI), and mitotic index (MI) of endometrial lesions in patients presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB).

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done over a period of 18 months where a total of 60 newly diagnosed cases of perimenopausal women presenting with AUB were included. All H and E stained pathology slides from the specimens were reviewed for initial histopathological evaluation and diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry for Bcl-2 and Bax was done. The study subjects were divided into two groups: Group 1 included 30 cases of histologically proven proliferative endometrium (PE) and endometrial polyps and Group 2 included 30 cases of hyperplasia, endometrial epithelial neoplasia (EIN)/or carcinoma. For all cases, AI and MI were calculated and compared among the two groups.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Quantitative variables were compared using the Independent t-test/Mann-Whitney test between the two groups and Kruskal-Wallis test for comparison between more than two groups. Qualitative variables were correlated using the Chi-square test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS: In our study of 60 patients of AUB, the mean age was 45.87 years with a parity of 2 or more in most of the patients. Most of the patients in our study had heavy menstrual bleeding (66.67%) with associated complaints of weakness, pallor, and low backache. Out of 60 patients of AUB, Endometrial carcinoma was diagnosed in 13 (21.67%) patients, with the most common histopathological type being Endometrioid carcinoma. There was a significant difference in the AI, MI, and the ratio of AI/MI among various histopathological diagnoses. AI was highest for Endometrial carcinoma and lowest for hyperplasia and polyps. MI was also highest for Endometrial carcinoma and lowest for hyperplasia and polyps. However, the ratio was incongruent as it was highest for hyperplasia without atypia and lowest for PE with endometrial carcinoma being midway. The Bcl-2 expression of relatively benign conditions (Group 1) was significantly higher than Group 2 (Endometrial epithelial neoplasia/carcinoma). Bax intensity showed an almost inverse pattern, being highest in endometrial carcinoma and lower in hyperplasia and polyps with the lowest expression in PE. Even the Bcl-2:Bax ratio was also highest for PE and lowest for endometrial carcinoma with others falling in between them.

CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the combination of the proliferative and apoptotic markers and the ratio will help as a tool in aiding the diagnosis of endometrial lesions for patients presenting with AUB.