Big cones and little cones.

To investigate whether the amount of tissue removed at conization could influence the frequency of inadequate excision of cervical atypias, 354 cone specimens were measured. The data indicate that the frequency of lesions incompletely removed at conization increased with decreasing size (ie. length and volume) of the specimen. The parameters influencing the detection of epithelial atypias at the surgical margin of the specimens are discussed. A plea is made for international standardization in reporting results of conization (size of cone and number of sections) in order to permit objective comparison between clinics of the results of the conization procedure.