Cervical cancer, throughout the world, is the second most common neoplasm among women. In Europe approximately 22,000 new cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed each year. This study assessed colposcopy as a screening method in the detection of pre- and early neoplastic lesions. This retrospective study analysed 3264 women hospitalized or treated on an outpatient basis at the Gynaecology and Oncology Clinic of CMUJ from 1995 to 1997. Among 81.2% patients the unsuspected colposcopic pictures were found which were histologically verified. In 5.9% of all examined patients the colposcopic pictures suggested lesions of CIN and early invasive cancer. In these cases the colposcopy presented false positive pictures in 2.6%. From this analysis the colposcopy is a method of good concordance with histologic examination result. This allows to eliminate unnecessary punch biopsies and even diagnostic conisation in significant percentage.