Objective: The objective of the study was to review the cytologic and histopathologic features among women 35 years of age or older with cervical dysplasia.
Study design: Patients presenting between 2001 and 2005 were included. Patients were labeled as pre- (PRE) or postmenopausal (POST) based on age younger than or 50 years old or older. Statistics were performed using SAS 8.0.
Results: Three hundred fifty-nine patients were identified: 270 PRE and 89 POST. PRE and POST patients had similar referral cytology with atypical cells of undetermined significance (ASC)/low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) in 60% and 65% and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) in 35% and 27%, respectively. Among patients with ASC/LSIL, POST had significantly more cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 3 (41% vs 29%; P = .027) as well as more malignancies (17 vs 0%; P = .002). Among patients referred for loop electrical excisional procedure secondary to HSIL cytology not explained by colposcopy, CIN 2 or greater was identified more often in POST (71 vs 32%; P = .03).
Conclusion: Our data demonstrate a high proportion of severe cervical dysplasia in age groups traditionally thought to have less risk than younger patients.