Today many women hear from doctors the diagnosis of "endometrial polyp", and not everyone knows what it means. The tissue that lining the walls of the uterus from the inside is called the endometrium. If the tissue of the endometrium is locally expanding, then such a pathology is usually considered a polyp of the endometrium. According to medical statistics, the older the woman, the higher the likelihood of the disease.
What is the endometrial polyp in the uterus?
The polyp in the uterus is a growth that has an oncological nature. Polyp has a leg and body, which are located on the surface of the tissue of the uterine wall. Most often, the polyp is formed in the glandular structure of the endometrium. The size of the polyp can vary from a few millimeters to several centimeters. In its structure, the endometrial polyp looks like a ball or an oval with internal glandular contents. It has a loose ferruginous consistency.
Types of endometrial polyps
- in women of childbearing age, glandular polyps of the endometrium are most often observed.
- women of advanced age are characterized by fibrous polyps of the endometrium, which in general are infrequent.
- mixed form - glandular fibrous polyps of the endometrium - are more often formed in women after 35 years.
In the polyps of the endometrium, there may be circulatory disorders, inflammatory processes, and in some cases polyps may degenerate into adenomas. In such cases, polyps of the endometrium are considered as a precancerous condition.
The causes of polyps of the endometrium
The formation of the endometrial polyp is due to a violation of the hormonal function of the ovaries due to the increased content of estrogens and the lack of progesterone. The cause of the appearance of glandular polyps of the endometrium is most often disorders of the endocrine system, especially in women with obesity, hypertension and other diseases. Inflammatory processes of the inner shell of the uterus, abortion, curettage of the uterine cavity increase the risk of polyps. The appearance of endometrial neoplasms is indirectly affected by an unfavorable ecological environment and malnutrition.
Symptoms of the endometrial polyp
In most cases, such polyps do not manifest themselves in any way and are therefore characterized as asymptomatic. However, in some women, the following signs of the endometrial polyp can be observed.
- spotting during menopause;
- profuse menstruation;
- spotting in the middle of the menstrual cycle;
- in some cases, discomfort during urination and during sexual intercourse;
- impossibility to become pregnant in the absence of other pathologies;
- the symptoms of the overgrown glandular polyp of the endometrium resemble contractions.
For the manifestation of the symptoms of all types of endometrial polyps, there is a regularity: the older the woman, the more severe the symptoms appear.
Diagnosis of the endometrial polyp
- One of the most effective studies of the endometrial polyp is ultrasound, on which it is detected as a local thickening of the endometrial tissue. Ultrasound can identify
echo of the endometrial polyp. Ultrasound is best done in the first days after the end of menstruation: 5-9 days from the beginning of the menstrual cycle. - Modern medicine also successfully practices hysterosonography to clarify the diagnosis for the presence or absence of an endometrial polyp. This procedure is also the same ultrasound, only the uterine cavity is injected through the catheter fluid, which expands the walls of the uterus so that the formation of the endometrium is better visible.
- Hysteroscopy is the most progressive method of detecting the endometrial polyp. This procedure involves examining the uterus by inserting the device with a miniature video camera.