Comparison of magnified chemiluminescent examination with incandescent light examination and colposcopy for detection of cervical neoplasia.

ABSTRACT

Magnified Chemiluminescent Examination (MCE) or speculoscopy is a new visual method for detection of cervical neoplasia. It utilizes low magnification and a special "blue-white" chemiluminescent light. The study includes 125 women with unhealthy cervix who were subjected to magnified examination with projected incandescent light (PIL) and chemiluminescent light (MCE). This was followed by colposcopy and directed biopsy from acetowhite areas. Of all 125 subjects, 20 patients showed cervical neoplasia of varying degree on histopathology. MCE could detect 18/20 neoplasias while PIL detected 11/20 cases. Sensitivity of MCE (90%) was significantly superior (P < 0.05) to PIL (55%) in detecting cervical neoplasia. Colposcopy, as compared to MCE, is better than speculoscopy as it facilitates grading of lesions due to higher magnification but antecedent MCE detected the acetowhitening in majority of patients (32/43). However, tendency to "overall" acetowhite lesions was significantly less during MCE when compared with colposcopy. Thus, MCE is a new diagnostic tool which is better than routine incandescent light examination and correlates well with colposcopy.