Loop electrosurgical excision procedure in Greek patients with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of our study was to evaluate the therapeutic effectiveness of loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) in Greek patients with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN).


METHODS
Between January 2002 and January 2009, 55 women with histologically confirmed VIN usual type were included in our study. For the LEEP procedure we used a high frequency electrosurgical unit with at least 80 W output. The tissue was removed to the second surgical plane. Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS-13 for Windows.


RESULTS
Complete response rate at 12-month follow-up was 100%. Complete response rate at 48 months of follow-up was 80%. Recurrence rate at 48 months of follow-up was 20%.


CONCLUSIONS
LEEP may constitute a valuable excisional method for the treatment of VIN. It provides an interpretable specimen of the whole lesion within a few minutes. It needs a short period of training and has low cost.
2nd Department of Gynaecology, St. Savvas Anticancer-Oncologic Hospital, Athens, Greece.
E
E
Terzakis
G
G
Androutsopoulos
G
G
Derdelis
D
D
Zygouris
C
C
Grigoriadis
N
N
Apostolikas
D000328:Adult; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000601:surgery*; D004598:Electrosurgery; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000601:surgery; D011379:Prognosis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*