Carcinoma of the cervix in a pregnant woman with negative Pap smears and colposcopic examination.

A case is reported of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix developing in a pregnant woman while manifesting five consecutive false-negative Pap smears and colposcopic appearance suggestive of dysplasia. Pap smears and colposcopic examinations are helpful in diagnosing dysplastic and early cancerous lesions of the uterine cervix. We describe a case where both Pap smears and colposcopy failed to diagnose an early occult invasive lesion in the cervix of a pregnant woman who manifested only CINIII by colposcopy, while the Pap smear was falsely negative on five consecutive occasions.