Interobserver variability on hysteroscopic findings of patients with endometrial hyperplasia

ABSTRACT

Background@#Endometrial hyperplasia is a common gynecologic disorder seen in the clinics. Among patients with endometrial hyperplasia, an estimated 5-10% have underlying malignancy hence early diagnosis and management is important. Hysteroscopy, regarded as the gold standard for diagnosing intrauterine abnormalities, enables accurate study of the endometrial surface as well as target eye biopsy during the same procedure. These eye-directed biopsies have a high accuracy in the hands of experienced operators, but accuracy of this technique is dependent on recognition of suspected endometrial pathology.1@*Objective@#The objective of this study is to ascertain inter-observer agreement in describing hysteroscopic findings among patients with endometrial hyperplasia@*Methodology@#This is a prospective interobserver study of gynecologists from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. Luke’s Medical Center. Three invited, consenting gynecologists reviewed 22 hysteroscopy recordings with histologic diagnosis of normal endometrium or endometrial hyperplasia from the files of the section of Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery. Then, evaluation of the hysteroscopy recordings was conducted using an assessment form containing questions about the quality of the recording, characteristics of the endometrium, and their diagnoses. The final outcome of this study is the inter-observer agreement among hysteroscopists in describing hysteroscopic findings of patients with endometrial hyperplasia.@*Results@#There is a wide gap in the interobserver agreement between hysteroscopists in describing hysteroscopic findings of patients with endometrial hyperplasia. However, the interobserver agreement was found to be substantial among participants in identifying the correct diagnosis.@*Conclusion@#A clear, systematic and standard way of identifying and describing hysteroscopic findings should be developed and instituted for use among hysteroscopists and hysteroscopy training programs. This will help in precisely identifying the areas where adequate sampling should be done.