title: Three-group metaphase as a morphologic criterion of progressive cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of our study was to investigate the presence of three-group metaphase in progressive cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a retrospective histologic study on the conization specimens of 41 women with microinvasive cervical carcinoma, 28 of whom were enrolled in the study. Three-group metaphase was scored in the invasive part of the lesion and in the adjacent cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three-group metaphase was found in 93% of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia adjacent to the invasive part of the lesion. However, three-group metaphase was found in 11% of the microinvasive cervical carcinoma cases with an infiltration depth of less than 2.5 mm and in 60% of the microinvasive cervical carcinoma cases with an infiltration depth of between 2.5 and 5.0 mm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The chance of finding three-group metaphase seems to be limited by the area of the lesion examined for three-group metaphase on the slide. Given the relation between three-group metaphase and aneuploid cervical intraepithelial neoplasia found in the literature and the occurrence of three-group metaphase in the cervical intraepithelial neoplasia adjacent to the microinvasive cervical carcinoma in this study, three-group metaphase can be considered a morphologic criterion for progressive cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and can be of value for practical use.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University Hospital Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mourits
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Pieters
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hollema
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Burger
mesh_terms: D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008677:Metaphase; D008938:Mitosis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*