title: Cytology and colposcopy in the diagnosis and management of preclinical carcinoma of the cervix uteri: a learning experience.
abstract: This report presents a learning experience in the use of colposcopy in the management of 254 patients consecutively and personally studied in whom one or more Papanicolaou smears suggested a cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or early invasive carcinoma. The accuracy of cytology in predicting the degree of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and early invasive carcinoma, within the limits of confidence of the laboratory, was 84.5 per cent. The accuracy of the colposcopic impression, within the limits of confidence, was 83.5 per cent. When only those lesions that could be satisfactorily examined were considered, the accuracy of the colposcopic interpretation within the limits of confidence was found to be 96.4 per cent. Neoplastic lesions limited to the ectocervix, and lesions that extended from the ectocervix into the lower portion of the endocervical canal and lesions limited to the canal were significantly related to the age of the patient. Of the total group of 254 patients examined, 45 patients (17.7 per cent) were subjected to a diagnostic cone biopsy.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D003127:Colposcopy; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D014626:Vaginal Smears