Digital cervicography criteria: improving sensitivity in uterine cervical cancer diagnosis

• Published in: Cadernos de saúde pública Vol. 24; no. 11; pp. 2653 - 2660
• Main Authors: Franco, Eugênio Santana, Hyppólito, Silvia Bomfim, Franco, Rosana Gomes de Freitas Menezes, Oriá, Mônica Oliveira Batista, Almeida, Paulo César de, Pagliuca, Lorita Marlena Freitag, Rocha, Nelson Fernando Pacheco da
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Brazil 01-11-2008
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - diagnosis; Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia - prevention & control; Cervix Uteri - pathology; Colposcopy - methods; Female; Humans; Mass Screening - methods; Middle Aged; Photography - methods; Physical Examination; Sensitivity and Specificity; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - prevention & control; Vaginal Smears; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1678-4464
• DOI: 10.1590/S0102-311X2008001100020

This study aimed to validate the scoring criteria for digital cervicography. The study enrolled 300 women submitted to a clinical protocol using cytological examination alone, digital cervicography without image magnification (Evaluation 1), and digital cervicography plus additional image magnification and considering the positive criteria (Evaluation 2). Women's mean age was 27.6 years. Positive criteria for digital cervicography were identified in 111 positive cases with pre-cancerous cervical lesions (100%) and in 8 cases classified as false positives (2.6%). Evaluations 1 and 2 classified the tests as positive (163; 54.3%) and suspected (146; 48.6%), respectively. According to the findings, digital cervicography was more sensitive (99.1%) and cytology more specific (100%). Digital cervicography sensitivity increased by 4.5 times when the positive criteria were applied as compared to cytology alone, besides involving low cost, thus suggesting that it is a viable technique.