Accuracy of endometrial biopsy with the Cornier pipelle for diagnosis of endometrial cancer and atypical hyperplasia

Objective: To establish the accuracy of endometrial biopsy with the Cornier pipelle in the diagnosis of endometrial cancer and atypical endometrial hyperplasia in our milieu. Material and method: We reviewed 1,535 anatomopathologic reports on endometrial biopsies taken from outpatients using the Cornier pipelle between 1997 and 2000, in pre- and postmenopausal patients with abnormal vaginal bleeding. In 168 patients (10.9%), curettage and/or hysterectomy was subsequently carried out. In these cases, the anatomopathologic reports were compared to determine sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and likelihood ratio (LR). Results: Sensitivity was 84.2%, specificity was 99.1%, accuracy was 96.9%, PPV was 94.1%, NPV was 93.7% and LR was 93.5. In 249 cases (16.09%) the material was insufficient for study. Conclusion: We determined that endometrial biopsy taken with the Cornier pipelle is, as we practice it, an accurate method for diagnosis of endometrial cancer and its precursor, atypical hyperplasia.