Abstract
Endometrial swabs from 247 cases were carried out with Endocyte method which was a new scraping technique for endometrial cytology and were compared with those obtained with Masubuchi's aspiration method. It is concluded that Endocyte method will be an useful technique for cytology of the endometrium from the following results; (1) Endocyte could be easily inserted into the endometrial cavity of 190 cases (76.9%) out of 247 and in 44 cases (17.8%) it could be with the aid of cervical traction. (2) Sixtyeight patients (29.1%) complained only slight pain on insertion. Uterine bleeding was noted in 23 cases (9.8%), but did not need any medical treatment. (3) Endocyte method is a preferable technique for obtaining enough endometrial samples. In 71 cases (51.1%), larger amount of endometrial cells was noted on the slide samples obtained by Endocytes than by aspiration tubes. (4) It was failed by Endocytes to obtain endometrial cells in 3 cases (2.2%) whereas by tubes in 7 cases (5.0%) including 4 cases with uterine bleeding. On 11 cases out of 14 post-menopausal cases, larger amount of endometrial cells was obtained by Endocytes than by aspiration tubes. From these cytological findings, it is plausible that Endocyte method might be the better technique for patients with uterine bleeding or postmenopausal women. (5) The risk of contamination of cervical cells in the cellular samples was 51 cases (36.7%) with Endocytes whereas 115 cases (82.7%) with tubes. Similarly, obvious mixture of histiocytes in the back ground was found in 15 cases (10.8%) with Endocytes whereas 47 cases (33.8%) with tubes. (6) Endometrial cells were fresh in appearance and were usually sampled by Endocytes as large and piled-up clusters which might misdiagnose to be atypical. Findings of endometrial carcinoma by Endocytes revealed not infrequently fragment of tubular structure which reflected the his tology well rather than typical grape formation.
