Treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia III by hysterectomy without intervening conization in patients with adequate colposcopy.

One hundred forty-four patients found to have cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) III on colposcopically directed biopsy who had completed childbearing were treated with a vaginal hysterectomy (112 patients) or abdominal hysterectomy (32 patients). The mean age of these patients was 28.6 years and the mean gravidity, 3.4. All patients had adequate colposcopy of the cervix and vagina. The transformation zone and lesion(s) were completely visualized. The uterus was submitted for histologic examination in all cases. The cervix was sectioned in a radial fashion (minimum 12 sections), and the proximal endocervix and lower uterine segment were sectioned transversely. CIN III was present in the cervix of 117 patients, CIN II in 9 patients, CIN I in 8 patients, and no evidence of residual neoplasia in 9 patients. Microinvasive cancer (1.3 mm stromal invasion without lymph-vascular space invasion) was present in one patient. After surgery, patients were seen every 3 months for 2 years and every 6 months thereafter. All 144 patients were followed up for at least 12 months, 124 patients for 24 months, 103 patients for 36 months, and 60 patients for 60 to 120 months. To date, all patients are alive and well and there have been no cases of recurrent vaginal neoplasia or cancer. These data suggest that: adequate colposcopy is an accurate method to rule out invasive cervical cancer and abdominal or vaginal hysterectomy is an effective therapeutic procedure in women with CIN III who have completed reproductive function.