Histopathological spectrum of lesions in women with postmenopausal bleeding

Introduction: Postmenopausal bleeding is regarded as an omnious and serious alarm of genital pathology. It is a symptom having various etiology and has a strong association with malignancy, which demands its thorough evaluation. Aims and Objectives: The present study was carried out to know the causes of postmenopausal bleeding based on histopathology and the percentage of various benign premalignant & malignant lesions in postmenopausal bleeding. The association with age was also studied. Methodology: This study included 139 specimens received in in Department of Pathology MMC & RI Mysore, with history of postmenopausal bleeding, from January 2013 to December 2014. Results: Mean age of the patients in the study was 57 years. Cervical biopsy was most common biopsy received (43.8%). Benign cases were 51.6%, malignant cases 36.07% and premalignant lesions were 9.27%. Among the benign lesions atrophic endometrium was most common (11.2%). Cervical cancer was most common (33%) among malignancy. Conclusion: Any patient presenting with history of postmenopausal bleeding should be investigated thoroughly to determine the cause of bleeding. Cervical lesions are still the most common cause postmenopausal bleeding so screening programme should be effectively implemented.