ABSTRACT
We compared endometrial sampling by pipelle endometrial curette with Conventional dilatation and curettage [D and C] in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. Endometrial sampling with pipelle curette was performed on 100 patients followed by formal D and C. Samples were labeled as A and B, respectively, and sent to a histopathologist who was blinded as to the method of sampling. The histopathology reports of both samples were compared, taking D and C as the gold standard. An adequate sample was obtained in 98% of cases by pipelle and in 100% of cases by D and C. Pipelle had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 100% for diagnosing endometrial carcinoma, hyperplasia and secretory endometrium. Pipelle also had high diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and negative predictive value [100%, 98% and 100%, respectively] for hyperplasia with atypia, and low sensitivity [57%] and positive predictive value [57%], but high specificity [97%] and negative predictive value [97%] for endometritis. Similarly, for proliferative endometrium, the pipelle technique had values of 94% and 93% for sensitivity and specificity, respectively. Both samples labeled as inadequate for histology by pipelle were polyps on the D and C report. Difficult endotracheal intubation was encountered in two cases of D and C. No other complications of the procedure were observed. The pipelle is a safe device for getting an adequate endometrial sample for histology, with a high sensitivity and specificity for detection of hyperplasia and malignancy