Evaluation of Sensitivity, Specificity, Positive and Negative Predictive Values of Digital Cervicography in Diagnosis of Intraepithelial Lesions, Carcinoma in Situ, and Cervical Cancer in Patients Referred to Tabriz Al-Zahra Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: Visual inspection is a known procedure for cervical cancer screening in low income societies. The present study aimed to assess the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of digital cervicography in the diagnosis of cervical precancerous lesions. Materials and Methods: Patients who had referred to Colposcopy Clinic of Al-Zahra Hospital (Tabriz-Iran) between September 23, 2017 and September 23, 2018 and underwent digital cervicography were included in the study. Before the procedure, written informed consent was obtained from all the cases. Digital photographs were captured before and after the application of 4% acetic acid in addition to the routine colposcopy. Modified Reid index was used for the interpretation of the images as positive, negative, and suspicious, and the results were compared to cervical biopsy findings as a gold standard. Results: From 95 patients, 31 positive and 64 negative cases were reported in the colposcopy procedure. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of digital cervicography were calculated as 89.47%, 81.57%, 54.83%, and 96.87%, respectively. Conclusions: To sum up, digital cervicography can be used as an effective screening tool for cervical cancer prevention in low and middle income countries.

Keywords

• digital cervicography
• cervical cancer
• cervical intraepithelial lesion