The treatment of grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia with cryotherapy: an 11-year experience.

The results of treatment of 453 patients with grade 3 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia by cryotherapy are presented. After excluding 31 patients who were lost to follow-up, the failure rate of primary treatment in the remaining 422 patients was 7.1% (30 patients). Outpatient re-treatment of those with persistent disease achieved an overall cure rate of 98%. Statistical analysis to determine prognostic significance with regard to persistent disease was carried out on the following variables: grade, size, and type of freeze. Type of freeze was the only variable to show statistical significance. Cryotherapy remains an effective outpatient modality for the treatment of grade 3 cervical neoplasia. A rigid protocol of patient selection and meticulous cryotherapy technique play a large role in obtaining the high cure rates reported in this study.