[Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in Brazzaville, Congo. A situation analysis]

To collect epidemiological data about Cervical Intra epithelial Neoplasia in Brazzaville, for planning strategic issues of a cancer screening programme in the Congo.

Retrospective study of the results of 5700 occasional cervical Pap smears.

The majority of the recorded women were 21 to 30 years old (49%), with a single or multiple parity (83.20%), and with a low socio-economic status. Among the 3088 recorded pathological smears, 200 cases of CIN were identified predominantly in 20 to 29 year-old-patients. They were subdivided into 174 (87%) CIN I, and 26 (13%) CIN II and CIN III. On the same occasion, 88 invasive cancers have been observed, predominantly among 50 to 60 year-old-women; an interval of 10 years has thus been noted between the latest period when CIN occurred (30 to 39 years) and the period when most of invasive cancers came about.

The interest of an organized national screening programme has thus been confirmed. The formulation of a national cancer strategic plan requests an updating of the present database with the results of additional epidemiological (cytological, virological) studies concerning hight-grade intraepithelial lesions, and by those of a national health system analysis concerning health of women in the post-reproductive period.