The role of cervical elastography in the differential diagnosis of preinvasive and invasive lesions of the cervix.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the role of cervical elastography in the differential diagnosis of preinvasive and invasive lesions of the cervix. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 95 women participated in this prospective study and were divided into the following groups: 19 healthy subjects (group 1) with normal cervicovaginal smear (CVS) and negative human papillomavirus test (HPV DNA), 19 women with normal cervical biopsy and normal final pathological result of cervical biopsy (group 2), 19 women with low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) (group 3), 19 women with high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) (group 4), and 19 women with cervical cancer (group 5). Clinical, demographic, histopathological, and elastographic results were compared between these groups. RESULTS: Comparing groups, age (40.42 ± 8.31 vs. 39.53 ± 8.96 vs. 38.79 ± 9.53 vs. 40.74 ± 7.42 vs. 54.63 ± 12.93, p < 0.001 respectively), gravida (1.74 ± 1.33 vs. 2.16 ± 1.68 vs. 2.21 ± 1.96 vs. 2.53 ± 1.93 vs. 4.63 ± 2.17 p < 0.001 respectively), parity (1.37 ± 0.68 vs. 1.68 ± 1.20 vs. 1.58 ± 1.30 vs. 2.00 ± 1.67 vs. 3.37 ± 1.61, p < 0.001 respectively), and the proportion of patients at menopause (10.5% vs., 15.8% vs. 10.5% vs. 5.3% vs. 57.9%, p < 0.01 respectively), a statistically significant difference was found (Table 1). However, no statistically significant difference was found in the number of abortions, BMI, mode of delivery, smoking, additional disease status, history of surgery, and family history (p > 0.05) (Table  2. As a result of the applied roc analysis, mean cervical elastographic stiffness degree (ESD) was found to be an influential factor in predicting cervical cancer (p < 0.05). The mean cut-off value was 44.65%, with a sensitivity of 94.7% and a specificity of 96.1% (Table 7). CONCLUSION: Measurement of ESD by elastography is a low-cost, easily applicable, and non-invasive indicator that can distinguish cervical cancer from normal cervical and preinvasive lesions. However, it is unsuitable for determining preinvasive cervical lesions from normal cervix.

A Rare Case of the Cervical Endometriosis and Overview of the Literature.

Cervical endometriosis is an uncommon form of endometriosis that is frequently diagnosed incidentally during histopathological evaluation of a hysterectomy or cervical biopsy specimens. Although some cases may be asymptomatic, the symptoms in some patients range from life-threatening hemorrhage to severe chronic pelvic pain. In asymptomatic patients, no further intervention might be required apart from observation and follow-up; however, patients with significant symptoms will require surgery. Primary cervical endometriosis is defined as presence of endometrial tissue on the anterior lip of the cervix, limited to the cervix surface and not extending below the squamous epithelium. Secondary cervical endometriosis is more common than the primary type and describes the disease extensions from the pelvis, or usually the rectovaginal septum. Superficial endometriosis is usually diagnosed by fine-needle aspiration, colposcopy, and cervical biopsy after a routine cervical smear, as endometrial cells detected during a PAP smear may be mistakenly removed as atypical glandular cells. Deep endometriosis may cause pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding, and spotting. In this case report, we present a rare case of cervical endometriosis, characterized by pelvic pain and menstrual irregularity, with endometrioma and adenomyosis, confirmed by histopathological evaluation of the specimen. A summary of the cervical endometriosis cases overview has been made to describe the changing clinical landscape of this rare condition.