Cryosurgical treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

This report describes 354 patients treated with cryosurgery for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) over an 8-year period. Colposcopic criteria were used to select treatable patients and to perform colposcopically directed biopsies. Treatment failures occurred in 6.2% of 298 patients treated for CIN I and II lesions. Of patients treated for carcinoma in situ, 39% demonstrated persistence of this lesion. Based on this clinical experience, cryosurgery is no longer acceptable for the treatment of severe dysplasia or cervical carcinoma in situ.