Screening for Cervical Cancer by Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) in Nabil Choucair Health Center—Dakar (Senegal)

OBJECTIVES: 1) To draw up the epidemiological profile of patients who have benefited from cervical cancer screening by visual inspection after application of acetic acid (VIA) and then describe the results of the test, the colposcopy, histological and therapeutic aspects in case of dysplasia. 2) To evaluate the performance of IVA in cervical cancer screening and its feasibility in low-resource countries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective and descriptive study carried out from 06 June 2015 to 31 January 2016 (7 months) at the Maternity Center at Nabil Choucair health center in Dakar. The patients had been screened for cervical cancer by visual inspection, which consisted of applying 3% acetic acid after setting up a vaginal speculum. The test was considered positive if there were intense white areas in the cervix. Colposcopy was performed in case of a positive VIA result. This colposcopy included an unprepared examination, an examination after application of 3% acetic acid and an examination after application of Lugol solution. The colposcopic report is made according to the terminology of the French Society of Colposcopy and Cervico-Vaginal Pathology. Patients with major changes or unsatisfactory colposcopy had undergone diathermic loop resection. Surgical specimens were sent to pathologic anatomy and follow-up was performed according to the results of the histology. The studied parameters concerned the socio-demographic aspects, the results of the VIA test, the results of the colposcopy after a positive test, the therapeutic aspects in case atypical transformation zone grade 2 or of unsatisfactory colposcopy, the results of the histology after the conization and the followed. The collection of data was done thanks to a file and the statistical analysis thanks to the software Epi-info version 7. RESULTS: 899 patients were involved in the study. The epidemiologic profile of our patient was a multipara in a period of genital activity, aged 42.2 years with a mean gestational weight of 4.5, and a parity of 4. In our series, the patients had their first sexual intercourse with 20.8 years old. In our study, 84 patients (10.2%) had positive results after visual inspection after acetic acid applications. All patients with positive results after application of 3% acetic acid had colposcopy. In our study, 27 patients had major changes and/or unsatisfactory colposcopy and underwent diathermic loop resection for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Anatomo-pathological examination of the cone room revealed cervicitis in 22.2% of cases, flat condyloma in 7.4% of cases, CIN2 in 22.2% of cases, and CIN3 in 18.5% of cases. All the conizations were in sano. The postoperative course was simple. CONCLUSION: Cervical cancer is a real public health problem in developing countries. To do to human resources, developing countries like Senegal must put in place simple, inexpensive, effective strategies that must globally respond to “screen and treat”.