[Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in Brazzaville, Congo. A situation analysis].

Objective: To collect epidemiological data about Cervical Intra epithelial Neoplasia in Brazzaville, for planning strategic issues of a cancer screening programme in the Congo.

Methods: Retrospective study of the results of 5700 occasional cervical Pap smears.

Results: The majority of the recorded women were 21 to 30 years old (49%), with a single or multiple parity (83.20%), and with a low socio-economic status. Among the 3088 recorded pathological smears, 200 cases of CIN were identified predominantly in 20 to 29 year-old-patients. They were subdivided into 174 (87%) CIN I, and 26 (13%) CIN II and CIN III. On the same occasion, 88 invasive cancers have been observed, predominantly among 50 to 60 year-old-women; an interval of 10 years has thus been noted between the latest period when CIN occurred (30 to 39 years) and the period when most of invasive cancers came about.

Conclusions: The interest of an organized national screening programme has thus been confirmed. The formulation of a national cancer strategic plan requests an updating of the present database with the results of additional epidemiological (cytological, virological) studies concerning hight-grade intraepithelial lesions, and by those of a national health system analysis concerning health of women in the post-reproductive period.