Success rate of cold coagulation for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia: a retrospective analysis of a series of cases.

OBJECTIVE

To establish the cure rate at 1 year of patients who have undergone cold coagulation for the treatment of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN).

DESIGN

Retrospective review of data for all patients at Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust who had undergone cold coagulation as part of their treatment for CIN between 2001 and 2011. Follow-up data up to December 2012 were analyzed.

SETTING

Colposcopy Department, Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust, United Kingdom.

POPULATION: Women undergoing cold coagulation for the treatment of CIN between 2001 and 2011, with cytologic follow-up until December 2012.

METHODS

Patients were identified using a local colposcopy database. Data were obtained via the local histopathology reporting systems. Statistical analyses were performed using Stata/IC 10.1 software.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Posttreatment cytology and whether subsequent treatment was required, with histology results.

RESULTS

Data on 557 patients were collected and analyzed. Pre-cold coagulation treatment histologic findings were CIN 1 in 156 patients (28.01%), CIN 2 in 260 patients (46.68%), and CIN 3 in 141 patients (25.31%). The median length of time between cold coagulation treatment and first follow-up smear, used to calculate cure rates at around 1 year, was 406 days (interquartile range 123 days, range 169-3,116 days). The cure rate after cold coagulation was 95.7% at around 1 year.

CONCLUSIONS

Cold coagulation has a cure rate comparable to that of excisional treatments such as large loop excision of the transformation zone and should be considered more widely in patients undergoing primary treatment for CIN, where there is no suspicion of invasive disease on history, examination and cytologic results.