Reliability of colposcopy during pregnancy

To investigate the reliability of colposcopy during pregnancy and to evaluate the concordance between colposcopic patterns and histopathological findings in these women.

Multicenter observational study of women diagnosed with an abnormal cervical cytology, who subsequently underwent a colposcopic evaluation with cervical biopsy during pregnancy. The "colpo-histopathological concordance‿ was evaluated. The "colposcopic overestimation and underestimation‿ were evaluated as well.

69 women, fulfilling the study inclusion/exclusion criteria, constituted the study cohort. Among them, on colposcopic examination, 14 women (20.3%) showed "grade I abnormal colposcopic findings‿, 52 (75.4%) showed "grade II abnormal colposcopic findings‿ and the remaining 3 women (4.3%) had a "suspicious for invasion‿ colposcopy. The histopathological diagnosis showed 2 negative biopsies, 12 (17.4%) cases of CIN1, 50 (72.5%) cases of CIN2 and 5 (7.2%) cases of invasive cervical cancer. We found a colposcopic overestimation in 10 cases (14.5%), underestimation in 12 cases (17.4%), and a concordance in 47 cases (68.1%). A better reliability of colposcopy in women in the firsts two trimesters and in particular in women ≤20 weeks pregnant was found (Cohen's weighted kappa: 0.65).

When performed by gynecologists with expertise, colposcopy is a reliable diagnostic tool, even during pregnancy. Whenever possible, a colposcopic evaluation during the first half of pregnancy is preferable.