Transvaginal Ultrasonography in Detecting Endometrial Hyperplasia
of TVS varies across studies due to dierences in patient Complex, Mardan, from 9th February to 9th April.
characteristics, menopausal status, bleeding symptoms, Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethical Review
operator expertise, ultrasound technique, and selected Board of Bacha Khan Medical College, Mardan, with
endometrial thickness cuto values. Lower cutoff values reference number 98/BKMC, dated 09/02/2026. A total
generally improve sensitivity and reduce the chances of of 93 post-menopausal women were included in the
missing disease, whereas higher cuto values improve study. The sample size was calculated using the WHO
specicity but may fail to detect early or less extensive sample size formula, a 95% condence level, P was
hyperplastic changes.5,6 Therefore, selecting an assumed to be 50% due to variability in reported
appropriate cuto remains clinically important, prevalence of endometrial pathology in previous
particularly when balancing the need to avoid literature, and the margin of error was set at 10%, giving
unnecessary biopsies with the risk of missing clinically a required sample size of 93 participants. Because
signicant pathology. Although TVS is useful for initial reliable local estimates of sensitivity and specicity for
assessment, it cannot reliably dierentiate all benign, transvaginal ultrasonography in this population were
premalignant, and malignant endometrial lesions on its limited, a prevalence-based estimate was used for
own.7 Histopathological examination remains the recruitment feasibility; however, diagnostic precision
reference standard because it provides denitive tissue was addressed in the revised analysis by reporting 95%
diagnosis and allows classication of normal condence intervals for sensitivity, specicity,
endometrium,
endometrial
hyperplasia,
atypical predictive values, and diagnostic accuracy.9 A non-
hyperplasia, and carcinoma. This is particularly probability consecutive sampling technique was used,
important in women with persistent post-menopausal and all eligible patients presenting during the study
bleeding, focal lesions, heterogeneous endometrial period were enrolled until the required sample size was
pattern, or risk factors for endometrial carcinoma. In achieved. The study included post-menopausal women
resource-limited settings, however, TVS remains aged 45 and above with bleeding or suspected
valuable as a triage tool because it is accessible, non- endometrial issues who underwent transvaginal
ultrasonography and endometrial sampling. Exclusions
were women with endometrial carcinoma, incomplete
records, refusals, or hormonal treatments aecting
endometrial thickness. Inclusion of symptomatic cases
aimed to mirror clinical practice but may introduce
spectrum bias due to varying disease severity. After
obtaining written informed consent, demographic and
clinical data were collected using a structured pro forma,
including age, body mass index, parity, post-menopausal
bleeding, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hormone
replacement therapy, and other relevant variables. All
participants underwent transvaginal ultrasonography
(TVUS), performed by trained radiologists using a
standardized protocol. Radiologists were blinded to
histopathology ndings to minimize observer bias.
Endometrial thickness was measured in millimeters on
the sagittal plane as the maximum double-layer thickness
invasive, relatively inexpensive, and useful for
identifying women who require endometrial sampling.8,9
Despite the routine use of TVS in clinical practice, local
evidence regarding its diagnostic performance in post-
menopausal women remains limited. In addition, cuto
variability has not been adequately evaluated in many
local studies, and reliance on a single xed threshold
may lead to either missed cases or unnecessary invasive
procedures. Therefore, this study was conducted to
determine the diagnostic accuracy of transvaginal
ultrasonography
in
detecting
histopathologically
conrmed endometrial pathology in post-menopausal
women, using histopathological examination as the
reference standard. The study also aimed to evaluate the
diagnostic performance of endometrial thickness and
compare the predened >10 mm cuto with an ROC-
derived optimal cuto.
between
the
endometrial-myometrial
interfaces.
METHODOLOGY
Additional ndings, including endometrial pattern,
echogenicity, and focal lesions, were also recorded.
Endometrial thickness was categorized as ≤4 mm, 5–10
mm, and >10 mm. For diagnostic accuracy analysis, >10
mm was considered TVUS-positive, while ≤10 mm was
considered TVUS-negative. Following TVUS, all
participants underwent endometrial sampling, and
histopathology served as the reference standard.
Specimens were classied as normal endometrium,
endometrial hyperplasia, or endometrial carcinoma by
blinded pathologists using standard diagnostic criteria.
For analysis, normal endometrium was considered
histopathology-negative, whereas hyperplasia and
This study was a descriptive, cross-sectional diagnostic
accuracy study to evaluate the role of transvaginal
ultrasonography in detecting endometrial hyperplasia in
post-menopausal women, using histopathological
examination as the reference standard. The study was
reported in accordance with the key principles of the
Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies
(STARD), including clear denition of the index test,
reference standard, participant eligibility, diagnostic
cuto, and measures of diagnostic precision. The study
was carried out at the Department of Radiology, MTI
Bacha Khan Medical College and Mardan Medical carcinoma were considered histopathology-positive.
July - September 2026
J Gandhara Med Dent Sci
88