A critical evaluation of the Schiller test in patients before conization.

The results of the Schiller test were recorded in 87 patients before conization and in 100 healthy control women having normal cytologic examinations. Large proportions of quadrants with iodine-unstained areas were found in both the experimental and the control series. In the 87 patients, the histologic examination of the cone specimens revealed false positive Schiller tests in 32 per cent of the patients with unstained quadrants, and false negative tests in 60 per cent of the patients with iodine-stained quadrants. The Schiller test proved to be unreliable in detecting or rejecting dysplasia or carcinoma in situ at the surgical margin of the conization specimens.