title: Spectroscopic imaging as a triage test for cervical disease: a prospective multicenter clinical trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to evaluate the potential safety and effectiveness of tissue spectroscopy for the diagnosis of cervical cancer in a prospective multicenter study of women scheduled for colposcopy on the basis of an abnormal Pap test or other risk factor.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred seventy-two women underwent spectroscopy of the cervix during their colposcopy visit. Spectroscopy measurements taken over a scan period of 4 minutes and 30 seconds were integrated by a cross-validated pattern recognition model and compared with biopsy results to yield sensitivity and specificity of cervical spectroscopy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age of subjects enrolled in the study was 27.7 years. The sensitivity of cervical spectroscopy was 95.1% with a corresponding 55.2% specificity for benign lesions. Several potential confounding factors (eg, mucous, blood, patient motion, ambient light) were examined to determine their potential impact on the accuracy of the test. Ambient light seemed to have the greatest effect, but no single factor contributed significantly to the results. The subjects did not experience any adverse events from undergoing the test.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spectroscopy of the cervix has the potential to accurately detect cervical moderate and high-grade dysplasia while also reducing the false-positive rate for benign cervices. The test is relatively simple to implement and was well accepted by subjects enrolled in the study.
authors.affiliation: University of Miami, Miami, FL, and St Francis Hospital-University of Connecticut, Hartford, CT, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: DeSantis
authors.forename: Nahida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chakhtoura
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Twiggs
authors.forename: Daron
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ferris
authors.forename: Manocher
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lashgari
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Flowers
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faupel
authors.forename: Shabbir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bambot
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raab
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000295:instrumentation; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000175:diagnosis*