Role of endocervical curettage in colposcopy

A series of 1,850 patients with atypical Papanicolaou smears referred to the Colposcopy Clinic at Cook County Hospital were evaluated. There were 2,000 colposcopic examinations with or without directed biopsy and 495 endocervical curettements. Records of 126 patients who had definitive diagnoses were reviewed. Of 126 patients, 41 had diagnostic conization following colposcopy-directed biopsy and endocervical curettage; 85 had only colposcopy-directed biopsy and endocervical curettage. There were two instances in which an invasive cancer was missed prior to therapy, one in the group of 41 patients (incidence of 2.4 per cent), the other in the group of 85 patients (incidence of 1.1 per cent). Cone biopsy contributed very little to establishing the diagnosis of invasive cancer following colposcopy-directed biopsy and endocervical curettage. Safety measures for endocervical curettage performed during pregnancy are presented. The management of patients evaluated by colposcopy-directed biopsy and endocervical curettement requires careful correlation of histo- and cytopathology.