Endometrial hyperplasia and the risk of endometrial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the incidence of endometrial carcinoma in endometrial hyperplasia and try to identify those patients at greatest risk.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of 116 patients who had simple, complex or mixed (simple with focal complex) endometrial hyperplasia with or without atypia, from January 1991 to December 1994.

RESULTS

Twenty-nine patients had endometrial hyperplasia with atypia and 87 without atypia. Incidence of endometrial carcinoma was 27.6% in those with atypia; and 3.4% in those without atypia. All were stage I (A or B) adenocarcinomas. Polycystic Ovary Disease and subfertility were found significantly in the cases with cytological atypia; however, they were not significant in the cases with carcinoma. No significant historical differences that could predict carcinoma were found.