Cervicography | |
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Purpose | test for cervical cancer(screening) |
Cervicography is a diagnostic medical procedure in which a non-physician takes pictures of the cervix and submits them to a physician for interpretation. Other related procedures are speculoscopy and colposcopy. The procedure is considered a screening test for cervical cancer and is complementary to Pap smear. The technique was initially developed by Adolf Stafl, MD, of Medical College of Wisconsin in 1981. [1]
Unlike colposcopy, cervicography does not have a current CPT/ HCPCS code and typically is not covered by most medical insurance companies. (Cervicography was given a Category III CPT code of 0003T, but this was discontinued in 2006. [2])
Cervicography is no more sensitive than Pap smear screening, and has a higher false positive rate (thus increasing the number of colposcopies needed). [3] [4]
Whether cervicography could have a role in countries where Pap smear screening programs are not in place depends on cost effectiveness and remained to be determined as of 1998. [4] A 2005 study found the sensitivity and specificity of cervicography for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia to be 72.3% and 93.2% respectively; [5] however, a 2007 study criticized the sensitivity figure as "likely... inflated" because the "gold standard" of colposcopy/biopsy may have missed cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. [6]