Study of Cervical Biopsy over a Decade at a Tertiary Level Hospital, Nepal

Abstract

Cervical carcinoma is the most common gynecological malignancy and almost curable cancer, if identified at an early stage. Cervical biopsy remains the ‘gold standard’ for the diagnosis of precancerous cervical lesion. The objective of this study was to review the histopathological findings of cervical biopsy including cervical polypectomy and hysterectomy specimens at Dhulikhel Hospital from January 2008 to December 2018. Out of 2098 cases, almost half of the cases (49.3%) were of Brahmin/Chhetri castes. There were significant differences in mean ages among hysterectomy cases (47.55±9.26), cervical biopsy cases (43.08±11.50) and polypectomy cases (33.59±12.47) (p value < 0.005). Out of 925 cervical specimens (cervical biopsy and polypectomy), colposcopy and hysteroscopy were performed in 18.2% and 12.7%, respectively. Out of 1173 hysterectomies, there were 110 cases (9.4%) of malignancies and cervical cancer was the most common (67, 60.9%). The mean age of cervical cancer patients was 52.87±11.94 years. Cervical cancer detected in age group of 40 – 59 years was significantly high (p value < 0.005). Incidence of cervical cancer was lowest in Brahmin/Chhetris (2.4%) compared to Newars (3.4%) and other Janajatis (12.8%) and the difference was statistically significant (p value < 0.005). The findings of this study is useful in updating the histopathological pattern of cervical biopsies.