Histopathological pattern of diseases of the cervix in Aba, South Eastern Nigeria: A seven-year retrospective analysis (2007-2013)

Abstract

Background: Diseases of the cervix continue to pose a major public health problem in developing countries.

Objective: To ascertain the pattern and frequency of cervical lesions in Aba, and the findings compared with the records of other workers elsewhere.

Design: A retrospective analysis of hysterectomy, trachelectomy and surgical biopsy materials.

Setting: Abia State University Teaching Hospital and Aba Diagnostic Center, Aba, Nigeria.

Method: The Departmental Surgical Registers from 2007-2013 were studied. The original request cards and case notes were retrieved and scrutinized for patients' age, presentation and initial clinical diagnosis. The biopsy slides were retrieved from the departmental archive and studied using light microscope. The cases were categorized into neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions. The neoplastic cases were grouped into benign and malignant conditions, and further classified using 2004 World Health Organization (WHO) scheme. The data was processed using EPI-INFO version 2000 series.

Results: A total of 4,624 surgical specimen were received by the department within the 7-year study period. There were 356 samples from the cervix, 342 of which met the inclusion criteria for this study. Two hundred and two 202(59.1%) of the cases were non-neoplastic, while 140(40.9%) were neoplastic conditions. The commonest non-neoplastic lesion was chronic nonspecific cervicitis. The commonest benign neoplastic condition was cervical polyp. The commonest malignant condition was Squamous cell carcinoma. The age range was 17 to 93 years with a mean age of 44.5 years.The peak age group for the non-neoplastic and malignant conditions were 40 and 49years respectively.

Conclusion: There is a high frequency and early onset of diseases of the cervix in our setting; in contrast to what is traditionally described from Western countries.

Keywords: Histopathological pattern, Diseases, Cervix