If you are diagnosed with endometrial polyps, what should you do? Treat or watch and wait? If you choose to treat, how should you treat your polyps?
While the ultimate decision is up to the individual, the article and comments below give some basic info to those women trying to think through their choices. Three questions to ask yourself are:
David Emerson
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“Women who were menopausal with polyps had an almost 4-fold higher likelihood of that polyp being malignant than when polyps were diagnosed in reproductive-aged women,” said Dr. Kaunitz. Correspondingly, a polyp was 2-fold more likely to be malignant in women with bleeding than in those who were asymptomatic…
What Happens When You Watch and Wait?
From January to July of 2010, Dr. Hartman examined 300 women who had been diagnosed with endometrial polyps in the previous 2 to 43 months.
Results of these examinations showed that
“Malignant polyps represented 2.5% of the total sample. Postmenopausal bleeding and age greater than 60 years were the only factors that remained associated with a higher risk of malignancy with a prevalence ratio of 3.67 (95% CI, 1.69–7.97) and 1.5 (95% CI, 1.01–1.09), respectively…”
To summarize: If you are diagnosed with endometrial polyps:
1) 13.7% of the time the polyps resolve on their own-
2) 41.7% of the time the polyp size stays the same-
3) 20.3% of the time the polyps shrinks at least 1mm-
4) 16.3% + 8.0% of the time the polyps grow at least 50% larger