The performance of Dynamic Spectral Imaging colposcopy depends on indication for referrals

•DSI increases the sensitivity of colposcopy, irrespective of most referral reasons.•If DSI and conventional colposcopy are combined, the sensitivity increases the most.•DSI colposcopy may enable a baseline sensitivity of the colposcopic exam.

ObjectiveA previous study has shown that Dynamic Spectral Imaging (DSI) colposcopy increases the sensitivity of the colposcopic examination in women referred with abnormal cytology. In this study we have re-analyzed the performance of DSI and conventional colposcopy for new referral conditions and for low-grade cytology referrals versus high-grade cytology referrals.MethodData from a previous validation trial was used to assess the performance of DSI in different cytology groups: Women referred with BMD (borderline and mild dyskaryosis) cytology and women referred with > BMD cytology either hrHPV positive or negative were separately analyzed. Furthermore, we tried to assess the clinical performance by appropriate filtering of patients to replicate two different referral strategies.ResultsThe sensitivity of DSI and conventional colposcopy to detect CIN2 + lesions in women referred with BMD cytology is 82% and 44% respectively (p = 0.001) and in the > BMD group 77% and 64% respectively (p = 0.24). If the two techniques are combined the sensitivity is 85%. When the conditions of new screening strategies are applied DSI colposcopy has a higher sensitivity to detect CIN2 + than conventional colposcopy. Findings are similar when CIN3 + is used as a threshold.ConclusionWe found that in most cases DSI colposcopy has a higher sensitivity than conventional colposcopy, even when referral criteria are changed. Unlike conventional colposcopy, the sensitivity of colposcopy with DSI in low-grade cytology referrals was found similar to the sensitivity in high-grade cytology referrals. This suggests that a baseline colposcopy sensitivity may be possible with the adjunctive use of the DSI map, irrespective of referral cytology.