We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
from SECTION 3 - Gynaecological Cancers and Precancer
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2014
Introduction
Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) has a high incidence in the reproductive age groups. The peak incidence of CIN grade III in the UK is at around the age of 30 years, which means that clinicians in colposcopy clinics frequently encounter women with CIN who are pregnant. These cases require considerable experience by the colposcopist and modification of certain principles that apply to the nonpregnant situation.
Cervical smears in pregnancy
The current NHS cervical screening programme (NHSCSP) guidelines recommmend that if a pregnant woman has a regular and negative screening history, cervical smears should be deferred until postpartum. It has been suggested that cervical smears should not be routinely taken in pregnancy because of difficulty in their interpretation — this is due to pregnancy-related inflammatory or reactive changes, which may be revealed on cytology of a cervical smear taken in pregnancy. In addition, cervical sampling in pregnancy can lead to minor vaginal bleeding that can cause anxiety to the pregnant woman. However, there is evidence to suggest that the rate of inadequate smears in the first trimester is low and that smear taking at that time is not associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes such as miscarriage or rupture of membranes. In keeping with this, the NHSCSP guidelines recommend that if the previous test has been abnormal and the woman has since become pregnant, the test should not be delayed.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
