Cytologic, colposcopic and histopathologic correlations of hyperkeratosis in reproductive women

The significance of leucoplakia/hyperkeratosis in colposposcopy or hyperkeratotic cells in Pap smear, is not fully understood. It is considered that hyperkeratosis itself is a benign change, but it may mask other pathologies, including invasive carcinoma. We studied 123 woman with colposcopically identified hyperkeratosis and its' possible relationship with dysplastic lesions of uterine cervix, based on correlation with cytopathological and histopathological data. The results of our study showed that 1) cervical dysplastic lesions are identified 2 times less frequently in conventional Pap smears from patients with thick leukoplakia, than in patients with thin leukoplakia and 2) histopathologically identified cervical dysplasias are 1,5 times more common in patients with thick leukoplakia. Pathologists and gynecologists in practice should be aware of this difference.