[Approach to the diagnostic colposcopy--a scoring method of colposcopic pattern]

In order to arrive at a final diagnosis of early cervical cancer by colposcopy alone, a colposcopic scoring system was applied to 172 patients with the disease. Each colposcopic pattern was scored from one point (for white epithelium) to 9 (for invasive cancer). The results obtained were as follows; 1) With these scoring criteria, stage 0 cancers were restricted to below 10 points and were characterized colposcopically by white epithelia with gland openings 2) In stage I-a lesion, atypical vessels, punctuation by irregular arrangement of the dots and concentration of abnormal gland openings were usually observed, and these findings were combined with each other to show a more complicated colposcopic pattern reflected in 11 to 18 points of the score 3) Frank invasions were indicated by 19 points or more, and punctuations or mosaics were seldom found in this stage, although the early "I-b" cancer was difficult to distinguish from I-a with this method 4) The diagnoses from this scoring system were identical with the final diagnoses confirmed by surgical methods in 66.7% of stage 0, 59.4% of I-a and 76.5% of I-b.