[Diagnosis of stage Ia cervix cancer]

A report is given on 226 cases of stage Ia cervical carcinoma from 1966 to 1986. One third of the patients were younger than 30 years. Only 23% of all cases had symptoms which lead to further diagnostics. When coming to hospital 12% of the cases did not have any cytological smear. The remainder of the patients had an unphysiological cervical smear. Colposcopy showed an unphysiological result in 74% and a physiological result in 3%. 23% of the patients did not have any colposcopy when coming to hospital. Cervical biopsies are insufficient to clarify a suspicious case. The importance of conisation for making the diagnose "stage Ia cervical carcinoma" is explained.