Effect of depleted uranium weapons used in the Balkan war on the incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and invasive cancer of the cervix in Greece.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the incidence rates of CIN and invasive cancer of the cervix in two district areas near the borders with the former Yugoslavia and an urban area away from these borders three years before and three years after the bombings in this country. MATERIAL: Two peripheral hospitals (in Kilkis and Serres) which are near the border with the former Yugoslavia and one University hospital (Hippocratio hospital of Thessaloniki) in a rural area away from the borders, where routine Papanicolaou smear tests for screening of CIN and invasive cancer of the cervix are performed in the general female population. METHODS: Hospital records were searched for abnormal smear test results. Incidence rates of CIN and invasive cancer of the cervix three years before (1997-1999) and three years after (2000-2002) the bombings were calculated and compared in the three different settings. The relation between the mean age of the first occurrence of an abnormal smear test was also examined. The results were examined using the chi-square test. RESULTS: The incidence of CIN in the three-year period 1997-1999 was 0.68% and 0.9% for the two district hospitals of Kilkis and Serres, respectively. These figures rose to 1.11% and 1.13% in the three-year period 2000-2002 for the two district hospitals. The incidence of CIN in the three-year period 1997-1999 was 1.06% for the Hippokrateion University Hospital of Thessaloniki and 0.88% for the three-year period 2000-2002. There has been a small but not statistically significant increase in the incidence rates of CIN in the two district areas near the borders with the former Yugoslavia over the last few years (p = 0.355 for Kilkis and p = 0.472 for Serres), compared with the small but statistically significant decrease in the incidence of CIN in the urban area of Thessaloniki (p = 0.0275). The rates of invasive cancer of the cervix diagnosed from the routine smear tests were too small to make any conclusions. CONCLUSION: The increase in the incidence of precancerous lesions of the cervix in areas near the borders with the former Yugoslavia during the last three years may be influenced by environmental factors such as exposure to depleted uranium due to the bombings of 1999. To comfirm this bigger epidemiological studies are needed.

Headless spermatozoa in semen specimens from fertile and subfertile men.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency of headless, or unnucleated, spermatozoa, determine its percentage and evaluate its possible correlation with other semen parameters. STUDY DESIGN: Semen specimens from 94 subfertile men, aged 24-53 years (mean +/- SD 33.3 +/- 6.3) and from 52 fertile men, aged 24-44 (33.3 +/- 4.1) were studied. Two semen specimens were examined from each individual, with a six- to eight-week interval. Sperm morphology was evaluated from Papanicolaou-stained smears, and the classification of abnormal sperm forms was made according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization. RESULTS: The percentage of headless spermatozoa was 9.0% +/- 8.8 in subfertile and 2.7% +/- 3.1 in fertile men. Headless spermatozoa existed in semen specimens from 90% of subfertile and 70% of fertile men. Of subfertile men, 23.4% had headless spermatozoa at a higher percentage than the highest normal limit found in sperm smears from fertile men. CONCLUSION: In some cases of subfertile men with a high percentage of headless spermatozoa, their infertility can be attributed to the cause of this morphological abnormality. Moreover, tails but not heads were found in semen specimens from subfertile and fertile men.