Age-related changes in the diagnostic assessment of women with severe cervical lesions. (August 2015) - Giannella, L.
Abstract Objectives To evaluate the effect of age on the diagnostic assessment of women with severe cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Methods This retrospective observational study included 338 consecutive women with a diagnosis of CIN3 on cone specimen. Patients were divided into three groups according to age: < 35 years (Group A), 35–49 years (Group B), and ≥ 50 years (Group C). Clinical and colposcopic variables were compared, and human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype distribution was measured. Results The most common HPV genotype was HPV-16 (63.65%), followed by HPV-33 (7%), HPV-18 (6.2%), and HPV-31 (5.4%). The rate of the following high-grade lesion predictors was lower in Group C than in Groups A and B: HPV-16 infections (55.9% vs. 75% vs. 70.9%, respectively, p = 0.022); high-grade colposcopic impression (29.4% vs. 51.8% vs. 51.7%, respectively, p < 0.0001); and high-grade cytological changes (30.9% vs. 56.2% vs. 45.4%, respectively, p = 0.025). An endocervical lesion location was more frequent in Group C than in Groups A and B (55.6% vs. 6.8% vs. 11.8%, respectively, p < 0.0001). Conclusion Women aged 50 years and older with CIN3 showed a significant reduction of high-grade lesion predictors along with physiological confounding cervical changes (transformation zone type 3 and endocervical lesion location). The diagnostic work-up of cervical lesions in older women should provide their potential consideration as a special population.