Assessment of Cervical Cancer Screening Activities Using IVA/IVL Visual Inspection Methods in the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department at the "Major Moussa Diakité" Reference Health Center (CSREF) in Kati, Mali

Abstract

Introduction: According to recent data from the Mali Cancer Registry, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women, with a frequency of 22.80%. Objective: To evaluate the results of cervical cancer screening activities using visual inspection methods with acetic acid and lugol (IVA – IVL) at the Kati Reference Health Centre. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, and analytical study over a three-year period. We included all women who tested positive for VIA and/or IVL, and/or who had a biopsy performed during the study period. Results: In total, we collected 941 women screened for cervical cancer, including 64 cases of biopsies performed. The mean age of patients was 48.15 years ± 20.08 years with extremes of 16 and 80 years. They were married in 79.7% of cases, multiparous in 56.3% of cases and not premenopausal in 51.6% of cases. We observed 11% of precancerous lesions with a predominance of 9.4% for mild dysplasias and 23.4% for invasive cancers. The most common cancerous histological type was squamous cell carcinoma (20.3%). Conclusion: IVA/IVL visual inspection of the cervix is also effective in detecting precancerous and cancerous lesions of the cervix, hence the need for a screening program for each country.