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WS04‐05Doppler ultrasound and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT)
Author(s) -
Zalud I.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
ultrasound in obstetrics and gynecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.202
H-Index - 141
eISSN - 1469-0705
pISSN - 0960-7692
DOI - 10.1046/j.1469-0705.2000.00009-1-29.x
Subject(s) - medicine , endometrium , menopause , endometrial cancer , endometrial polyp , radiology , ultrasound , hormone replacement therapy (female to male) , gynecology , obstetrics , cancer , testosterone (patch)
Hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) offers multiple benefits and some risks to many postmenopausal women, especially to those whose menopause occurred before age 45. Improvements of image resolution by transvaginal sonography allow the investigation of very delicate anatomical structures such as the endometrium. Various diagnostic criteria including thickness and volume of endometrium, internal structure and myometrial involvement help to identify endometrial abnormality. The benefits of technologies such as sonohysterography, Doppler and 3D ultrasound are being assessed. In the postmenopausal patient without hormonal substitution, endometrial pathology may be diagnosed by measuring endometrial thickness alone. In women with postmenopausal bleeding, endometrial atrophy as the must common cause has been differentiated from endometrial cancer with a high success rate. Considering that the majority of diagnostic endometrial biopsies reveal a benign pathology, Doppler ultrasound may significantly reduce the number of these procedures. In patients with HRT, the measurement of endometrial thickness is not reliable to predict pathology. In this situation, ultrasound examination of the endometrial/myometrial border or endometrial blood flow is advantageous. Transvaginal ultrasound and Doppler blood flow analysis could prove helpful in selection and follow up of patients on HRT and maybe to prevent some unwanted endometrial effects.