Cervical Cancer Under the Colposcope
Cervical cancer is probably the leading cause of cancer death in females after breast cancer. Women who are sexually active are advised to go under regular Pap smear testing (about once every five years or so) because the prostaglandin found in semen is known to trigger the development of tumors in the cervix or the uterus, which is also a valid reason for the use of condoms during sexual intercourse. Females who begin to engage in sexual intercourse at a young age have higher risks of developing malignant abnormalities in their cervix than others.
A Pap smear test is done with the patient in the dorsal lithotomy position and the gynecologist would then take cell samples from the outer part of the cervix and the endocervix to examine for cancerous growth. This biopsy would be followed by endocervical curettage (ECC) that would require the doctor to scrape the cervical canal with a curette. The patient might experience pain during both the biopsy and ECC, and this kind of procedure should never be done if the patient is pregnant because it might weaken the cervix and cause a miscarriage. The biopsy specimen is examined under a biological clinical microscope using high power objectives.
For a safer cervical examination that is still accurate, the patient would be asked to undergo colposcopy, which is a cervical inspection done using a special type of microscope called the colposcope.
The clinical colposcope has a binocular eyepiece that allows for low-power magnification of the image being viewed by the gynaecologist. The microscope lens and the illumination would be facing straight onwards to focus on the patient who would be lying down in front of the gynecologist. The lower power objectives are used to view the surface of the vulva and the cervix, while the medium to high power objectives are employed to look inside the vagina and cervix with the use of a vaginal speculum, which is a spatula-like instrument. Sometimes, an iodine solution would also be applied on the cervix for the gynaecologist to highlight abnormal developments in the tissue in case there are no visible lesions at all.
A camera might also be attached to the medical colposcope instrument so that the doctor would be able to keep records of the procedure. Another way is to attach the microscope to a monitor so that the patient would be able to see the gynaecologist’s view of the colposcopy being done. This is done with colposcopes having a beam splitter for the optics, a c-mount for attaching the ccd video camera, and a display monitor.
If the gynecologist detects abnormal growth in the patient’s cervix, they could perform extraction at that moment and see if the patient has risks of developing cervical cancer. Discovering tumors or lesions in the patient’s cervix doesn’t necessarily mean that they can develop cervical cancer, but it would be recommended for the patient to have the procedure repeated regularly in order for the gynecologist to monitor the area where the pre-cancerous growth is located.
Using the medical colposcope in looking at the cervix is helpful not only for a thorough examination but also for a painless and relatively safe procedure that would be important for pregnant women. The idea is to see and diagnose problems early so they don’t develop into major problem later in life. The medical use of the colposcope helps to achieve this goal.
