Comparison of Transvaginal Ultrasound, Saline Infusion Sonohysterography versus Diagnostic Hysteroscopy in Evaluation of Endometrial Cavity Pathology amongst Women with Abnormal Uterine Bleeding in Low Resource Setting

Abstract

Introduction: Hysteroscopy is currently the gold-standard protocol for evaluating patients with abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). Unfortunately, though accurate, its adoption in low-resource countries such as in Africa is limited due to lack of equipment and qualified personnel. As such, there is a need for an alternative diagnostic procedure that is as accurate as hysteroscopy, but also affordable, easy to administer, and acceptable by women with endometrial pathologies. Transvaginal Sonography (TVS) and Saline Infusion Sonohysterography (SIS) are proposed. However, their diagnostic accuracy versus hysteroscopy has not been determined in low resource setting. Objective: To compare the diagnostic efficacy of TVS and SIS versus diagnostic hysteroscopy in evaluation of endometrial pathology among pre-menopausal and post-menopausal women and to determine the etiology of AUB amongst these women. Methodology: A prospective cohort study was done at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya between May and September 2019. Forty patients with AUB were recruited using consecutive sampling, and women who consented were recruited. The etiology of AUB was recorded. All participants underwent TVS, SIS and Diagnostic Hysteroscopy (DH) evaluation in the first half of the menstrual cycle and the findings recorded on a patient’s information sheet. The sociodemographic and bleeding characteristics of patients and the outcomes of TVS, SIS, and DH evaluations were also recorded and the data was analysed using version 5 of the Software for Statistics and Data Science (STATA). Summary statistics on the etiology of AUB were presented and the sensitivity of TVS and SIS versus DH as the gold-standard evaluated using two by two tables and the ROC curve. Results: The mean age of participants was 38.1 ± 8.8 years, range of 25 - 71 years. Heavy Menstrual Bleeding (HMB) was reported in 70.0% of participants, while about 12.0%, 7.5%, and 7.5% had post-menopausal bleeding, amenorrhea, and hypomenorrhea. The incidence of submucosal fibroids and endometrial polyps was 17.5% and 15.0% via TVS, 47.5% and 20.0% via SIS and 52.5% and 20% via DH respectively. The overall sensitivity, specificity, Positive Predictive Value (PPV), Positive Predictive Value (NPV), and diagnostic accuracy of SIS were 92.1%, 83.3%, 96.9%, 62.5%, and 90.0% while TVS was 38.2%, 100%, 100%, 22.2%, and 47.5%. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of TVS in diagnosis of endometrial polyp were 75.0%, 100%, 100%, and 94.0%. SIS did better with a sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 100%, 100%, 100%, and 100%. Conclusion: Our data suggests SIS had a higher diagnostic accuracy than TVS and showcased a comparable diagnostic accuracy to hysteroscopy. SIS is more suitable safe alternative technique for investigating AUB in pre/post-menopausal women in low resource setting where hysteroscopy is unavailable or unaffordable.