Diagnostic comparison of electrical impedance spectroscopy with colposcopy and HPV mRNA‐testing in the prediction of CIN2+ women in Greece

Abstract

AbstractAimTo compare the diagnostic parameters of electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) via ZedScan, a device that measures spectra to differentiate between normal and abnormal cervical tissues, when used as an adjunct to colposcopies in the diagnosis of HSILs/CIN2+ in Greek women with abnormal referral cytology toward colposcopy alone and HPV mRNA‐testing.MethodsThis study analyzed 86 women, patients of the Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Clinic of 2nd Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki at Hippokration General Hospital, between January 2022 and September 2022. During the visits, women were subjected to cytology, colposcopy alone and then with EIS/ZedScan and histological sampling.ResultsCommon use of colposcopies and EIS/ZedScan allowed detecting an additional 14 cases of CIN2+ (16.2%) that colposcopy alone failed to report. EIS enhanced the sensitivity of colposcopy from 80.65% to 100% equal with that of HPV‐mRNA test while retaining a high specificity (94.74%) which is much higher than specificity of HPV mRNA‐testing (65.45%). EIS‐assisted colposcopy had the highest value combination of positive and negative predictive values (96.15% and 100%) compared to colposcopy alone (100% and 75%) and HPV mRNA‐testing (72.46% and 100%).ConclusionsColposcopies performed with EIS/ZedScan demonstrated effectiveness in the diagnosing of CIN2+ leading to a significant increase in the number of CIN2+ that would have been missed if only colposcopy was applied especially in women with LSIL referral cytology. EIS/ZedScan seems to possess the ideal diagnostic threshold for sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values for CIN2+ compared to colposcopy alone and HPV mRNA‐testing.