Endometrial carcinoma is the most common gynaecologic cancer in the United States with about 41,200 new cases projected to occur in 2006. It often presents with abnormal uterine bleeding and spreads to the cervix in 10 to 20% of cases. Whilst early diagnosis is essential for optimal disease treatment, the best investigation for abnormal uterine bleeding remains uncertain. Although hysteroscopy has been reported to have high accuracy in predicting normal or abnormal endometrial histopathology, its accuracy varies with the underlying pathology. The highest accuracy occurs in the diagnosis of intrauterine anatomical pathology such as endometrial polyp whereas it is at its lowest in microscopic histopathology such as endometrial hyperplasia. Hysteroscopy is also potentially useful for detecting tumour spread to the uterine cervix that helps in staging and surgical planning. However, the role of hysteroscopy with guided biopsy in detecting endometrial cancer and the choice of distension medium remain to be determined. As the uterine cavity is a collapsed space, hysteroscopy requires its distension with a gaseous or liquid medium to allow complete visualization of the uterine cavity. The use of such media to rinse the uterine cavity raises the concern that when the endometrium harbours endometrial carcinoma cells, there is a potential risk of retrograde dissemination of these cells into the peritoneal cavity. The work in this thesis has addressed four major issues of diagnostic hysteroscopy in the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma. Firstly, the role of diagnostic hysteroscopy and guided biopsy is limited especially in microscopic tumours. Secondly, the role of diagnostic hysteroscopy to detect cervical invasion in preoperative staging of endometrial carcinoma is proven and the usage of normal saline is more accurate than that which uses carbon dioxide. Thirdly, hysteroscopic dissemination occurs more frequent when using normal saline as opposed to carbon dioxide as the distension medium. Lastly, complete occlusion of both fallopian tubes can effectively prevent the dissemination of endometrial carcinoma cells into the peritoneal cavity during diagnostic hysteroscopy. / Lo, Wing Kit Keith. / "May 2006." / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-09, Section: B, page: 5873. / Thesis (M.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (167-193). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / School code: 1307.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:cuhk.edu.hk/oai:cuhk-dr:cuhk_343827 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Contributors | Lo, Wing Kit Keith., Chinese University of Hong Kong Graduate School. Division of Medicine. |
| Source Sets | The Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, theses |
| Format | electronic resource, microform, microfiche, 1 online resource (xxvii, 193 p. : ill.) |
| Rights | Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons “Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International” License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) |
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