Colposcopic features of papillomaviral infection and premalignancy in the female lower genital tract.

Colposcopy plays an important role in the investigation and direct management of papillomavirus infection of the female lower genital tract. The colposcopic appearances of subclinical papillomavirus disorders resemble intraepithelial neoplasia, and the matter is further confused in that subclinical lesions are often accompanied by intraepithelial neoplasia into which they grade with indefinite borderlines. High accuracy in prediction of histologic diagnosis in the spectrum that ranges from subclinical papillomavirus infection to major grades of intraepithelial neoplasia may be achieved by a system of grading of colposcopic appearances.