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Objective: In order to assess the efficacy and tolerability of leuprorelin acetate depot in pre-operative flattening of the endometrium prior to hysteroscopic endometrial ablation, 94 patients from eight centres were included in the per protocol analysis., Material and Patients: The patients included were pre- or peri-menopausal, had completed their family planning and had intractable uterine bleeding. The primary target criterion was the reduction in maximum endometrial thickness after two injections of leuprorelin acetate depot with an interval of four weeks between injections. Surgery took place two weeks after the second injection., Results: Sufficient pre-treatment was achieved in 91.5% of the patients with > 50% decrease and/or a type 1 endometrium according to sonographic and/or endometrial atrophy (Score 11) according to the central histological evaluation. The endometrium was flattened by a mean of 4.0 +/- 4.1 mm. In terms of clinical response, amenorrhoea, hypomenorrhoea or normal menstruation were achieved after endometrial ablation. Hence 91.5% of patients benefited from the overall treatment after six weeks and still 83% after six months. The trial medication was well tolerated overall. The most common side-effect described was hot flushes which could be attributed to the deliberate oestrogen withdrawal., Conclusion: In view of the good study results, hormone-suppressive pretreatment of the endometrium can be recommended prior to elective ablation. Surgery should take place during the oestrogen-suppressed phase.

130 total hysteroscopic resections of the endometrium (RE) were performed at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the Deutschlandsberg Hospital from August 1, 1992 to May 31, 1997. 115 patients (88.5%) suffered from distinctive therapy-resistant uterine bleeding in terms of hypermenorrhea and menorrhagia, frequently combined with poly- and dysmenorrhea. 15 (11.5%) women who had previously been operated for breast cancer developed--during continuous treatment with tamoxifen--endometrial hyperplasia or polyps on which RE was performed after a hysteroscopic biopsy or resection had been carried out in a second setting. The operation showed that 98 out of 115 patients (85.2%) had pathologic anomalous uteri which were the organic cause of the uterine bleeding. Only 17 women (14.8%) suffered from dysfunctional uterine bleeding (12 cases) or from iatrogenically reduced coagulability (5 cases). The majority of the women (106 cases = 81.5%) were older than 40 (average 46.9 +/- 6.21 years). All RE were performed under inhalation anesthesia whereby the complete uterine cavity up to the inner orifice of the uterus was resected with the resectoscope loop. 92 out of 130 patients (70.8%) underwent a hysteroscopy or a dilatation and curettage before the RE. 77 patients (66.9%) received pretreatment with drugs to reduce the endometrium. 15 women (13.0%) underwent a laparoscopic tubal sterilization in the same setting. Finally, the results of 107 patients were analyzed excluding dropouts and patients who had undergone continuous treatment with tamoxifen and those who had an observation time of less than 6 months. After an observation period of 6-58 months, the success rate was 84.1%. For treatment of relapses 7 second resections were performed, whereby in 1 patient with a further uterine bleeding the uterus had to be extirpated. Nine of the 10 remaining patients had a hysterectomy, 1 patient refused any further treatment. The total hysterectomy rate was 12.2%. Basically, RE is absolutely practicable as far as the treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding is concerned, since hysterectomy can be avoided in a number of cases. Satisfactory long-term results, however, can only be achieved if indication and operation technique are of high quality. A problem which has not yet been solved is the indication and treatment of proliferating adenomyosis uteri interna.

63 cases of adenomatous endometrial hyperplasia (1st-3rd degree) were diagnosed by hysteroscopy and D&C at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Greifswald from January 1991 to December 1994. In 40 patients with adenomatous hyperplasia (2nd-3rd degree) a hysterectomy was performed. 23 patients presenting with 1st degree hyperplasia were treated continuously with gestagenes for a period of 6 months. In those cases we performed a repeated diagnostic hysteroscopy and D&C to check the success of hormonal treatment. In 92.5% of tall cases the histological diagnoses of a lower degree adenomatous hyperplasia, cystic glandular hyperplasia or of a normal endometrium were made after hysterectomy. Only in one patient (2.5%) an endometrial carcinoma developed from an adenomatous hyperplasia (3rd degree). There was no progression to observe of adenomatous hyperplasia after hormonal therapy with gestagenes. We conclude that in those cases a hysterectomy has not necessarily to be carried out. However, in adenomatous hyperplasia of 3rd degree hysterectomy has to be the treatment of choice, because there is an increased risk of invasion.

13 months after a hysteroscopic endometrial ablation a haematometra was diagnosed in a 44 year-old women as a source of recurrent pelvic pain. The cause of the haematometra was a complete obliteration of the ostium cervicae internum. This long-term complication of the endometrial ablation shows that all patients should have a regular clinical and sonographical follow up after endometrial ablation.

We report on the successful outcome of a pregnancy after bipolar electrocoagulation of Fallopian tubes for sterilisation followed by electroresection of the endometrium for menorrhagia. Reasons for sterilisation failure are discussed with special attention to benefits and risks of endometrial ablation as a new "minimally invasive" therapy for menstrual disorders. We propose guidelines for patients' counselling and preoperative consent.

The endometrial carcinoma shows an increasing incidence and represents today the most frequent malignoma of the female pelvis. Until now all techniques of detection of this carcinoma or its precursors are invasive and thus are not suitable for screening investigations. Vaginosonography, as the first non-invasive diagnostic method, now supplies knowledge about the state of the endometrium. At the Gynaecological Department of the University of Homburg/Saar, West Germany, 221 patients had been preoperatively subjected to vaginosonography before they underwent surgery. Sonographical and histological findings corresponded in atrophic endometrium in 82%, in regular, perimenopausal endometrium in 91%, in endometrial polyps and hyperplasia of the endometrium in 56%, and in endometrial carcinoma in 79%. With regard to the detection of endometrial cancer, a specificity of 96%, a sensitivity of 93%, a positive predictive value of 79% and an accuracy of 96% were established. Thus, according to our experience, vaginosonography represents a valid, non-invasive diagnostical method as a suitable instrument for screening the endometrium.

Early detection of endometrial cancer is hardly possible. In nearly 90% of all cases irregular vaginal bleeding is the first clinical sign of this disease. New ultrasound technique, small scanner probes and especially higher ultrasound frequencies rendered a better resolving power and higher quality medical imaging. Hence, now the examination of the organs in the female pelvis is very exact using vaginal sonography (VS). A clinical study was performed to examine the relevance of VS assessing changes and details of the endometrium. In particular, the sonographical criteria of early endometrial cancer should be defined. In 137 postmenopausal women VS was performed after irregular vaginal bleeding and prior to D&C. All findings were described concerning alteration in echogenicity and thickness of the endometrium. Only one case of 37 histological confirmed endometrial cancers among the study group was not detected by VS prior to curettage. Therefore 0.7% of the sonographical findings showed a false negative result and 6.6% were false positive in comparison to the histological outcome. VS seems to be a relatively reliable technique in assessing the endometrium. In conclusion VS could be a useful additional method to detect hyperplasia or malignant disorders of the endometrium.

This investigation pursued the question of how many patients with precancerous endometrial hyperplasia were not recommended for screening programs solely because of the lack of risk factors. The median age of precancerous hyperplasia patients in Erlangen is 54, 8 years before the median age for endometrial carcinoma. Just under 10% (8.5%) of precancerous endometria occur before the age of 45. Only 18.3% of all precancerous patients do not suffer from overweight. Because age and adiposity were missing from the list of risk factors, one quarter (23.9%) of the women studied in Erlangen had not been included in a screening program. One-fifth (19.1%) of the precancerous stages in the risk patients would not be determined cytologically because nuclear criteria were either missing or deeply situated. Consequently, a minimum failure rate of 38.5% for precancerous patients must be reckoned with when using a cytological screening routine with risk patients. In the period under study, it is surprising to note that six times as many endometrial carcinoma as precancerous endometrial were treated. There is no universally suitable treatment for all precancerous patients. Certainly, an individualized, conservative form of treatment would seem to offer more hope of success than surgical therapy, which would always be aggressive.

Complex investigations were performed for the evaluation of the local biological effect of the total cryodestruction of endometrium in 7 perimenopausal women with relapsing hyperplasia of the endometrium before and after (in 3-4.5 months) surgery. The following methods were used: radiometry of uterus, cytomorphologic and cytomorphometric investigations, RIA of E2 in peripheral blood plasma, in cytosol and in a nuclear fraction, and an assay of the state of E2-receptor endometrial system. The results of the investigations showed the importance of these methods as the objective criteria for the treatment efficiency. It was established that the cryosurgery is an alternative method for the treatment of this pathology in perimenopausal women.