Abstract

RELIABILITY OF COLPOSCOPY DURING PREGNANCY

Lamyaa Abdulateef Rashid* and Rajaa Majid Abdulateef

Abstract

The high specificity of colposcopy in pregnancy for the diagnosis of invasive carcinoma allows selecting with reasonable certainty patients to be subjected to diagnostic excision in case of suspected colposcopic invasion (low rate of false positives). However, sensitivity values may impose the need to target patients with high-grade colposcopy to target biopsy, to avoid the risk of non-diagnosis of invasive carcinoma (false colposcopy negative). Colposcopy is a reliable diagnostic tool, especially in the first half of pregnancy. After the 20th week of gestation, the accuracy and reliability of colposcopy are reduced, hence these patients should be cautiously evaluated, considering a higher risk of colposcopic underestimation of the lesions. However, regardless of the gestational age, each pregnant woman with abnormal cervical cytology should be evaluated by experienced colposcopists.

Keywords: colposcopy, pregnancy.