Current problems in the pathology of intra-epithelial lesions of the uterine cervix

Problems in the interpretation and diagnosis of intraepithelial lesions of the uterine cervix include interobserver differences in respect of grading, uncertainty as to the significance of human papillomavirus infection and debate about the current terminology. The role of human papillomaviruses in cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN) remains unclear and the specific type of virus present does not correlate closely with the behaviour of these lesions. There are defects in the current terminology and in proposed new terminology for CIN; it is suggested that the term 'borderline CIN' should be introduced in cases where there is uncertainty as to whether or not CIN 1 is superimposed on a flat condyloma.