bone in the endometrium: a review

to provide a comprehensive review of the published literature of patients with endometrial bone or osseous fragments with a view to critically examine the antecedent clinical presentation, investigations and prognosis after treatment. this systematic review of the literature includes full text articles of published case reports and cases series from the following computerized databases: pubmed, ovid, and medline between 1928 and 2013. we reviewed a total of 293 patients in 155 case reports and case series. the mean ± sd age at presentation was 32.7 ± 8.9. approximately 88% of patients had at least one prior surgical uterine evacuation relating to pregnancy termination or loss at a median gestational age of 14 weeks (range of 4-41 weeks). the most common presenting symptom was infertility (56.2%). one hundred twentyfour (66.0%) of the 188 patients attempting pregnancy after treatment achieved pregnancy prior to article publication and the majority (82.3%) were spontaneous. spontaneous miscarriage rate remains high (43%); however, most pregnancies ended in live-birth (55%). bone fragments in the endometrium are most commonly found after pregnancy termination, present with infertility and/or irregular menses, and upon removal, patients rapidly conceive spontaneously.