Saline infusion sonohysterography – an effective tool for evaluation of the endometrial cavity in women with abnormal uterine bleeding

We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of saline infusion sonohysterography (SISH) over transvaginal sonography (TVS) for the detection of intrauterine abnormalities using hysteroscopy as the gold standard in a retrospective study of 70 women mostly presenting with abnormal uterine bleeding. TVS was normal in 32 women, while in the others polyps or fibroids projecting into the cavity (n = 19) or a thick endometrium (n = 19) were suspected. On performing SISH the uterine cavity was found to be normal in 29 women, while 35 had suspected polyps/fibroids and 6 had other abnormalities. Hysteroscopy proved to be normal in 28 women, 35 had polyps/fibroids and 7 had other abnormalities. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values for TVS were 72.4%, 100%, 100% and 74%, respectively, while for SISH the corresponding figures were 91.4%, 92.6%, 89.3% and 94.1%. SISH is a simple, minimally invasive and cost-effective investigative tool enhancing the diagnostic accuracy of TVS and can be an effective screening test prior to hysteroscopy.