Surgery: Adenomyosis at hysterectomy: a study on frequency distribution and patient characteristics

To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors for adenomyosis,the clinical records of consecutive women undergoing hysterectomyduring a 3 year period were retrieved. Data were collected onindication for the intervention, general sociodemographic characteristicsof the patients, age at menarche, parity, abortions, and menopausalstatus at surgery. Adenomyosis was diagnosed in 332 of the 1334cases (24.9%). The condition was present in 146 of the 627 patients(23.3%) with fibroids and menorrhagia, 68 of the 265 (25.7%)with prolapse, 21 of the 98 (21.4%) with ovarian cysts, 19 ofthe 100 (19%) with cervical cancer, 31 of the 110 (28.2%) withendometrial cancer, 16 of the 57 (28.1%) with ovarian cancer,and 19 of the 77 (24.7%) with miscellaneous indications. Thesedifferences were not statistically significant (x²₆ = 11.14).In comparison with nulliparous women, the odds ratio was 1.3and 1.5 respectively in women with one and two births (x²₁ trend= 5.76, P < 0.05). No relationship was found between ageat surgery, age at menarche, indications for surgery, menopausalstatus at intervention, and presence of endometriosis. Our findingsdo not support the notion that adenomyosis is more frequentlyrelated to particular clinical conditions, and suggest thatparity may be associated with an increased frequency of adenomyosis.