ASSOCIATION BETWEEN COLPOSCOPIC FINDINGS AND HISTOLOGY IN CERVICAL LESIONS - THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SIZE OF THE LESION

The relation between eight specific colposcopic diagnostic findings an d the histologic grade of a cervical lesion in 896 women was evaluated . The size of the transformation zone (TZ), the size of the lesion, th e intensity of the color tone, distinct margins, the pathology of the vessels, and the presence of micropapillae as single findings were hig hly statistically correlated to the histologic grade (P < 0.0001). By logistic regression analysis the risk for a higher histologic grade wh en assessed by colposcopy was greatest in women with variation of the acetowhite color (odds ratio (OR)=16.0; 95% CI, 10.0-26.0) followed by coarse vessels (OR=10.0; CI, 3.2-34.0), Lesion-size larger than 50% o f the visible cervix had an OR of 3.6 (CI, 2.1-6.3), Extention beyond TZ had an OR of 0.4 (CI, 0.2-0.4) and larger TZ had an OR of 0.5 (CI, 0.3-0.9), In conclusion we found that the size of the cervical lesion had some independent predictive value and should be considered in futu re trials. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.