Objective: To determine the prevalence and age of patients with cervical carcinoma missed by a loop electrosurgical excision procedure.
Materials and methods: A total of 253 women with cervical dysplasia who underwent conization and 248 women who later underwent hysterectomy were retrospectively reviewed. The age and prevalence of those with cervical carcinoma diagnosed and missed by conization were determined.
Results: Of the 248 patients, 11 cases (4.4%) of cervical carcinoma were missed by cervical conization. The age of those with cervical carcinoma missed by conization was significantly greater than those whose diagnosis was not missed (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Women with severe cervical dysplasia who no longer wish to preserve fertility should be advised to undergo hysterectomy if the conization margins are not free of disease. Older women with incomplete resection margins tend to have undiagnosed hidden cervical carcinoma after cervical conization.