OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of cervical pathology and the incidence of cervical neoplasia in women presenting with PCB at the colposcopy clinic with negative cytology. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A district general hospital. POPULATION: Eighty-seven women with postcoital bleeding and negative cytology were seen in the colposcopy unit during 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005. METHODS: Women were identified from computer records and details were extracted from the case notes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: Six women (6.9%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. There were no cases of invasive cancer. Thus in our study 6.9% women with postcoital bleeding had abnormal histology even though they had normal smears. Other identifiable causes were cervical polyp (12.5%), ectopy (33.6%) and Chlamydia (2.3%). No pathology was found in 50% of women. CONCLUSION: Women with postcoital bleeding even with normal smears appear to be at much greater risk of cervical neoplasia than the general population. Unfortunately there is no general consensus for management of these patients. Hence further research is needed to standardise the management of women with PCB. Patients should be reassured that in vast majority of cases no serious pathology is detected.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of cervical pathology and the incidence of cervical neoplasia in women presenting with PCB at the colposcopy clinic with negative cytology. DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: A district general hospital. POPULATION: Eighty-seven women with postcoital bleeding and negative cytology were seen in the colposcopy unit during 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2005. METHODS:Women were identified from computer records and details were extracted from the case notes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Histopathological diagnosis. RESULTS: Six women (6.9%) had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. There were no cases of invasive cancer. Thus in our study 6.9% women with postcoital bleeding had abnormal histology even though they had normal smears. Other identifiable causes were cervical polyp (12.5%), ectopy (33.6%) and Chlamydia (2.3%). No pathology was found in 50% of women. CONCLUSION:Women with postcoital bleeding even with normal smears appear to be at much greater risk of cervical neoplasia than the general population. Unfortunately there is no general consensus for management of these patients. Hence further research is needed to standardise the management of women with PCB. Patients should be reassured that in vast majority of cases no serious pathology is detected.