Abnormal uterine bleeding associated with iron-deficiency anemia. Etiology and role of hysteroscopy

We reviewed the clinical and histologic records of 61 consecutive premenopausal women with abnormal uterine bleeding and moderate to severe iron-deficiency anemia investigated in a tertiary care and referral center. Excessive bleeding was caused by benign lesions in 67% of the cases and by anovulation in 25% and was unexplained in 8%. Hysteroscopy revealed an organic intrauterine lesion (submucous myomas in 38%, endometrial polyps in 13%, submucous adenomyomas in 3%) that could be treated endoscopically in more than half the patients. In populations without nutritional deficiencies, a woman of reproductive age with sideropenic anemia and no other evident cause of blood loss or systemic disease should be considered menorrhagic until proven otherwise. Hysteroscopy should be included in evaluations of abnormal uterine bleeding.