Published in:
01-11-2007 | Original Article
Prevalence of pathology in women attending colposcopy for postcoital bleeding with negative cytology
Published in: Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics | Issue 5/2007
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Objective
To determine the frequency of cervical pathology and the incidence of cervical neoplasia in women presenting with PCB at the colposcopy clinic with negative cytology.
Design
A retrospective study.
Setting
A district general hospital.
Population
Eighty-seven women with postcoital bleeding and negative cytology were seen in the colposcopy unit during 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005.
Methods
Women were identified from computer records and details were extracted from the case notes.
Main outcome measure
Histopathological diagnosis.
Results
Six women (6.9%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. There were no cases of invasive cancer. Thus in our study 6.9% women with postcoital bleeding had abnormal histology even though they had normal smears. Other identifiable causes were cervical polyp (12.5%), ectopy (33.6%) and Chlamydia (2.3%). No pathology was found in 50% of women.
Conclusion
Women with postcoital bleeding even with normal smears appear to be at much greater risk of cervical neoplasia than the general population. Unfortunately there is no general consensus for management of these patients. Hence further research is needed to standardise the management of women with PCB. Patients should be reassured that in vast majority of cases no serious pathology is detected.