Laser conization for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: the experience of the Colposcopy and Laser Surgery Unit, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Conegliano Hospital

From November 1990 to December 1995 eighty patients were treated with laser conization. They were high grade CIN extending to the endocervical canal and/or with purely ectocervical lesions and patients with low grade endocervical CIN persisting more than one year or cyto- histological discrepancy. Before surgery all the patients had colposcopy, cytology and guided cervical biopsies. Seventy-six out of eighty underwent local anaesthesia and in three cases a general anaesthetic was required although one case was treated without any anaesthesia. Complementary vaporization of the cone bed was performed in every single case. All specimens were judged fully evaluable by the pathologist. The accuracy of the preconization histology as evaluated in 79 patients. Exact agreement or a one degree discrepancy between punch biopsies and cone specimens was found in 96.25%. We did not find any unexpected invasive carcinoma. The apex of the specimen was free of disease in 93.75% of cases. A high grade lesion on the endocervical margin was found in 4 out of 5 cases with an apex involvement. Stenosis of the external cervical os occurred in 7 cases, 3 of which were symptomatic. In our experience laser conization is an effective and safe treatment of CIN with the results comparable to the literature.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.