Colposcopic pattern of cervicitis, dysplasia and pre-invasive cancer of the uterine cervix.

The great majority of cervical neoplasia begin in the transformation zone between the squamous and the columnar epithelium, i.e. within the area in which metaplasia takes place. This process, both normal and atypical, can be studied colposcopically. Colposcopy increases the diagnostic accuracy and therapeutic success in cervical neoplasia as it is the only method that permits a topographical study of cervical lesions, and indicates the location of neoplastic epithelial proliferation.