Prevalence, 1-year regression rate, and clinical significance of asymptomatic endometrial polyps: cross-sectional study.

Study Objective: To estimate the prevalence, 1-year regression rate, and clinical significance of endometrial polyps in women aged 45 to 50 years.

Design: Cross-sectional study (Canadian Task Force II-2).

Setting: University teaching hospital.

Patients: Two hundred fifty-seven of 1000 randomly selected women aged 45 to 50 years.

Interventions: Transvaginal ultrasonography and saline infusion sonography were performed in all study participants and were repeated in women with endometrial polyps after 12 months. Polyps present at follow-up were removed by hysteroscopic polyp resection.

Measurements And Main Results: Endometrial polyps were diagnosed in 31 women (12.1%). At 1 year, the polyp regression rate was 27%. Myomas occurred more often in women with endometrial polyps, and women with polyps experienced significantly heavier periodic bleeding compared with women without polyps.

Conclusion: Our study findings suggest that endometrial polyps are common in women aged 45 to 50 years and that women with such polyps experience heavier periodic bleeding. Although some polyps seem to regress spontaneously during 1-year follow-up, most seem to persist.