Risk of recurrence after treatment of severe intraepithelial neoplasia of the cervix. A follow-up of 896 patients.

Eight hundred and ninety-six patients were followed up cytologically for up to 21 years following treatment for a CIN III lesion of the cervix. The recurrence rate (8.8%) was lower after hysterectomy than after treatment which preserved the cervix (23%). Long-term yearly follow-up is not required as all recurrences were detected by annual smears for a seven-year period after treatment in both groups. It is important to keep patients under cytological review following hysterectomy because of the appreciable recurrence rate and also evidence that intraepithelial lesions of the vaginal vault behave in an aggressive fashion.