Histopathologic spectrum of uterine corpus lesions in a tertiary centre – An eleven-year review

Abstract

Context: Histopathological diseases of the uterine corpus are influenced by several factors including age, parity, hormonal and environmental factors. Indeed, majority of neoplastic uterine corporal diseases (notably fibroids, carcinomas and sarcomas) are acknowledged to be manifestations of physiologic and pathologic hormonal influences.

Aims: This paper presents a descriptive, analytic study of the neoplastic and non-neoplastic lesions of the uterine corpus from a hitherto poorly reported tertiary hospital of a low and middle-income country (LMIC).

Settings and Design: This is a retrospective study of all the uterine corpus samples received in the histopathology department of National Hospital Abuja over an 11-year period from January 1st 2009, to December 31st 2019.

Methods and Material: Data on all uterine corpus samples were retrieved from departmental electronic registers. Further clinical information was obtained from the health records of the hospital where necessary. The neoplastic lesions were classified using the 5th edition of the World Health Organization (WHO) Classification of Tumours.

Statistical analysis used: The data obtained were collated and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 20. The data were presented in proportion, frequency tables and figures.

Results: Of the 3311 uterine corpus samples analyzed, 60.2% were non-neoplastic lesions whilst the rest (39.8%) were neoplastic of which 94% of the neoplastic lesions were benign whilst 6% were malignant. Uterine leiomyomata constituted 87.2% (N=1326) of all neoplastic samples. Endometrial carcinoma represented the commonest neoplastic malignant lesion accounting for 65.9%, of which endometrioid histology was the predominant subtype with fewer proportions of carcinosarcoma, serous carcinoma and undifferentiated carcinoma.

Conclusions: Leiomyoma is the commonest benign neoplastic uterine corporal lesion whilst endometrial adenocarcinoma is the predominant malignant lesion.