Carbon dioxide laser vaporization of cervical subclinical papillomaviral infection and intraepithelial neoplasia: short-term effectiveness.
134 patients with biopsy-proved cervical subclinical papillomaviral infection (SPI) (the so-called 'flat condylomas'), or with associated intraepithelial neoplasia (also called 'atypical condyloma' or 'CIN with features of condyloma'), or with isolated, apparently 'non-warty' intraepithelial neoplasia were treated by means of the carbon dioxide laser between July, 1982, and January, 1985, following a planned approach and on an outpatient clinic basis, without the use of anesthesia or analgesia. The complication rate was extremely low. The overall cure rate was 91.0%. This confirms that laser surgery, combined with colposcopic expertise, can offer acceptable treatment effectiveness, comparable to other techniques of local destruction. Moreover, rapid tissue healing allows early identification of persistent disease. Converging cytological, histopathological, immunochemical and serological evidence has established human papillomavirus - belonging as a subgroup to the papovavirus family - as an important etiologic factor in female genital tract carcinogenesis. The marked increase in prevalence of these mainly sexually transmitted cervical SPI lesions creates a growing problem of their management and/or follow-up.