Diagnostic significance and sequelae of cone biopsy

All cone biopsies from our institution over a 10-year period were reviewed. Two hundred seventy-one patients underwent 274 procedures. Preoperative colposcopic evaluation markedly reduced the proportion of patients with residual cervical epithelial neoplasia (CIN). No patient in our series required conization for diagnosis of frankly invasive carcinoma. Following colposcopy and conization, 8% of patients had disease extending to the surgical margins; eight of 11 such patients (72%) with adequate follow-up had no further CIN. Colposcopy and cytology underestimate the final pathologic diagnosis in many patients with incomplete visibility of the transformation zone, so conization is mandatory in this circumstance. Conization in pregnancy was associated with increased hemorrhage; colposcopy has reduced the need for this operation in gravid patients.