Objective: The aim of the study was to explore the utility of fluorescein sodium (FNa) as a contrast agent for colposcopy to detect premalignant and malignant lesions of cervix. The primary objective was to determine and compare the percentage detection of premalignant and malignant lesions of FNa and acetic acid (AA) positive areas.
Methods: This study included 120 screen positive women who underwent colposcopy using both 3% AA and FNa (0.06%). Observations for FNa staining were made under blue filter and directed biopsies were taken from acetowhite and fluorescent green areas. Benign lesions were considered as disease-negative and low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL), high grade SIL (HSIL), and invasive cancer were considered as disease-positive. Correlation between histopathology and FNa and AA was determined by Kappa statistics.
Results: The mean age was 39.59 ± 10.73 years and median parity was 2. Out of 120 patients, 57 had benign lesions, 18 had LSIL, 33 had HSIL and 12 had invasive carcinomas. Sensitivity was 98.41% versus 64.91% respectively and specificity was 85.71% versus 35.09% respectively with FNa and AA. Diagnostic accuracy of FNa and AA was 82.50% versus 61.60%. There was good agreement between FNa staining and final histopathology and fair agreement between AA application and HPE (κ = 0.643 vs 0.213, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Using FNa as a contrast agent during colposcopy results in greater accuracy for detection of premalignant and malignant lesions of the cervix as compared to AA.
Keywords: IFCPC criteria; cervical cancer; cervical cancer screening; chromocolposcopy; colposcopy; fluorescein sodium.
© 2023 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.