Endocervical crypt involvement by high-grade cervical intraepithelial
neoplasia and its association with high-grade histopathological
recurrence after cervical excision in women with negative excision
margins: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
Background: There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that
endocervical crypt involvement by high-grade cervical intraepithelial
neoplasia (CIN) may represent a risk factor for disease recurrence after
cervical treatment. Objectives: To provide a systematic review
and meta-analysis on whether endocervical crypt involvement by
high-grade CIN on the excised cervical specimen is associated with
high-grade histopathological recurrence during the follow-up of women
after cervical excisional treatment. Search Strategy: We
searched the Medline, Scopus, Central and Clinical Trials.gov databases
from inception till June 2021. Selection Criteria: Studies that
reported on women with a single cervical treatment with any method of
excision for CIN2 or CIN3 lesion, negative excision margins and whose
recurrence was defined histopathologically were included. Data
Collection and Analysis: Two reviewers independently evaluated study
eligibility. We used the fixed effects model for meta-analysis.
Main Results: There were 4 eligible studies included in the
present systematic review that evaluated 1088 women treated with either
large loop excision of the transformation zone (LLETZ) or with cold
knife conization (CKC). The between study heterogeneity was not
significant. We found no significant association of endocervical crypt
involvement by CIN2-3 with high-grade histopathological recurrence at
follow-up after cervical excision (OR:1.93; 95%CI:0.51-3.35). The
subgroup analysis of women with LLETZ cervical excision showed again no
significant association with high-grade histopathological recurrence at
follow-up (OR:2.00; 95%CI:0.26-3.74). Conclusions:
Endocervical crypt involvement by high-grade CIN does not seem to be a
risk factor for high-grade histopathological recurrence after cervical
excision with negative excision margins.