Digital assessment of the reproductive tract versus colposcopy for directing biopsies in women with abnormal Pap smears.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to compare digital camera assessment of the reproductive tract (DART) to colposcopy for the evaluation of abnormal Pap smears.


METHODS
Participants included 207 women with abnormal Pap smears. Colposcopy and DART were performed on each patient by separate examiners with the goal of lesion detection. Analysis was performed per patient and per biopsy.


RESULTS
Patients had an average of 2.9 biopsies. Forty-two patients and 81 biopsies were positive for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+. Both DART and colposcopy detected 41 (97.6%) of 42 patients (95% CI = 85.9%-99.9%). Digital camera assessment of the reproductive tract detected 66/81 (81.4%; CI = 70.7%-88.9%) and colposcopy detected 69/81 (85.2%; CI = 73.2%-92.4%) of biopsies that were cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+.


CONCLUSIONS
Digital camera assessment of the reproductive tract detects high-grade lesions of the cervix with similar sensitivity to colposcopy. It holds great promise to expand cervical cancer precursor lesion detection in areas with limited resources.
Cremer
Miriam L
ML
New York University School of Medicine, Bellevue Hospital, New York City, NY 10016, USA. mlcremer@hotmail.com
Peralta
Ethel I
EI
Dheming
Selma G
SG
Jimenez
Maria E
ME
Davis-Dao
Carol A
CA
Alonzo
Todd A
TA
Blumenthal
Paul D
PD
Felix
Juan C
JC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D001706:Biopsy; D003127:Colposcopy; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D055815:Young Adult