Correlation of colposcopic examination results with histopathological findings and its diagnostic value in cervical biopsy

Background & Aims: Cervical cancer is the fourth most frequently diagnosed cancer in women. Colposcopy is a worldwide accepted method for detection of early carcinoma of cervix. This study was conducted to investigate the correlation between colposcopic examination results with histopathological findings and its diagnostic value in cervical biopsy.
Materials & Methods: This study was a cross-sectional comparative study performed on 436 women with abnormal Pap smear test results, referring to Urmia Motahari Hospital during March 2021 to March 2022. Colposcopy and histopathologic findings of individuals with abnormal Pap smear results were extracted from the patient records. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics (Chi-square test) using SPSS 21 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL.,USA). The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of various diagnostic methods were calculated. A probability of P<0.05 was accepted as significant.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 37.3 ± 9.60. The most common finding in colposcopy and histopathology results were acetowhite lesions and cervicitis, respectively. According to the comparison, the agreement percentage of colposcopy and histopathology findings in noninvasive malignant neoplasia in the case of CINIII, CINII, CINI were 4%, 57.1%, and 37%, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for colposcopy in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia were reported as 57.3%, 51.8%, 23.3%, and 82.5%, respectively.
Conclusion: This study showed an acceptable correlation between colposcopic examination and histopathologic findings. Thus colposcopy can be used as a tool for early diagnosis of precancerous cervical lesions as a screening method alongside the pap smear. The correlation between the experience of examiner and accuracy of colposcopy results were not meaningful.