Comparison of Visual Inspection Methods Using Either Acetic Acid Solution or Lugol’s Iodine Solution with Colposcopy in Screening of Cervical Cancer: A Cross Sectional Study

We compared two different methods of visual inspection of the cervix, including Visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA) and Visual inspection of the cervix with Lugol's iodine (VILI) in terms of sensitivity and specificity in diagnosis of pre-malignant cervical lesions in comparison to colposcopy guided biopsy.

In this cross-sectional study, a total number of 200 women who were referred to the colposcopy clinic of Arash women’s hospital (Tehran, Iran) for cervical cancer screening, underwent VIA, VILI, and colposcopy guided biopsy during 2018-2019.

 The calculated sensitivity and specificity of VIA and VILI in this population were (100% and 69.5%) and (100% and 60%), respectively, whereas the sensitivity and specificity of both VIA and VILI tests in combination were 100% and 77.2%. The positive and negative predictive values were 32.7% and 100%, respectively, when combined form of VIA and VILI was applied in this population.

VIA and VILI alone or in combination could be used as screening tests to evaluate the presence of cervical cancer and in case of positive results, supplementary tests such as colposcopy guided biopsy could be performed for definite diagnosis.