Post-conization follow-up of patients with CIN 2/3 with different amount of distance to negative cone biopsy margin: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether patients with CIN 2/3 with different amount of distance to negative cone biopsy margin differ in terms of post-conization follow-up results. Cold-knife cone specimens with a negative surgical margin with a diagnosis of CIN-2/3 were selected. The minimum distance between the margin and lesion was categorised as less than 2 mm (Group-1), 2–5 mm (Group-2), or more than 5 mm (Group-3). There were no statistically significant differences between groups in terms of postoperative cone-biopsy results (p = .61). Furthermore, there were no statistically significant differences between groups in terms of cytology at 6 months and 12 months (p = .33 and p = .80, respectively). Results of the present study indicate that the amount of distance of lesion to cone biopsy margin seems to have no effect on follow-up results in patients with negative surgical margin.Impact Statement What is already known on this subject? Negative surgical margins on conization are associated with lower rates of lesion recurrence. Only the efficacy of volume and size of cone biopsy specimens have been analysed on lesion recurrence. However, there is no clear definition of the minimum distance of a negative margin during cone biopsy. What do the results of this study add? To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study describing the post-conization follow-up of patients with CIN 2/3 with different amount of distance to negative cone biopsy margin. Patients who underwent surgical treatment with a wider cone biopsy margin and narrower cone biopsy margin demonstrated similar follow-up results. What are the implications of these findings for clinical practice and/or further research? The present study provides valuable information to guide physicians performing conizations with an appropriate amount of negative surgical margin. Future studies investigating the effect of different amount of distance to negative cone biopsy margin on gynaecologic and obstetrics complications such as stenosis, bleeding, and preterm labour, low birth weight, and perinatal mortality are needed to show the benefits of a narrower distance to negative cone biopsy margin