Colposcopy—an Aid in the Detection of Early Cancer and Precancerous Conditions of the Cervix

Abstract

Colposcopy and cytology were used to examine the cervices of 246 women. Twenty-one of these patients were biopsied on the basis of colposcopic suspicion. Two biopsies showed premalignant disease and 2 showed invasive carcinoma. The cytologic smears in these patients were negative in 2 instances, doubtful in 1 and inadequate in 1. There were 3 additional cases in which colposcopy was negative but the Papanicolaou smear was doubtful. These were lost to follow-up but in 1, in which the cytology was positive, adequate histopathology failed to show cancer in the uterus. The various colposcopic pictures in benign and malignant disease of the cervix are listed and described briefly. It is concluded that colposcopy is a practical and valuable addition to other methods used to detect premalignant and malignant disease of the cervix.