The role of endocervical curettage in satisfactory colposcopy

The role of endocervical curettage was studied in women with cervical dysplasia who underwent satisfactory colposcopic evaluation. Among 1130 women seen in the colposcopy clinic of a large city hospital during a 2-year period, 96 with satisfactory colposcopy and positive endocervical curettage constituted the study group. In these patients, the extent of dysplasia in the endocervical canal in cone biopsy specimens was measured using an ocular micrometer. When true-positive endocervical curettage was defined as dysplasia extending 5 mm or more inside the transformation zone, the false-positive rate for endocervical curettage was 81.8%. No patient with mild or moderate dysplasia on endocervical curettage had dysplasia that was more than moderate in degree or that extended more than 4.5 mm inside the transformation zone on histopathologic examination of the cone biopsy specimen. Because of the high rate of false-positive endocervical curettage, patients with mild and moderate dysplasia and selected women with severe dysplasia in endocervical curettings could be treated by local cervical ablation, with follow-up by endocervical curettage.