Influence of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures on the distribution of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Patients with colpomicroscopically visible lesions of dysplasia or CIS were biopsied systematically and then were followed by direct observation using colpomicroscopy and by cytology. These observations indicate that under certain circumstances a single punch biopsy may produce an immediate cure, a delayed cure or a change in the distribution of an area of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (dysplasia or carcinoma in situ). These sequelae may reflect the dependence of areas of CIN on contiguity with the squamo-columnar junction for their continued survival. The delayed influence of biopsy procedures on the distribution and natural history of CIN militates against their being used as part of long-term follow-up studies of the course of these lesions.