LASER treatment for women with high-grade vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia: A propensity-matched analysis on the efficacy of ablative versus excisional procedures

ObjectiveMethodsTo investigate the long-term effectiveness of LASER treatment in women affected by high-grade vaginal intra-epithelial neoplasia. Data of consecutive women treated for high-grade vaginal intra-epithelial neoplasia were retrieved. Efficacy and long-term effectiveness of ablative and excisional procedures were tested using a propensity-matched algorithm. Risk of recurrence over the time was assessed using Kaplan-Meier and Cox models. ResultsConclusionsOverall, 204 patients met the inclusion criteria. LASER ablation and exicision were performed in 169 (82.8%) and 35 (17.2%) patients. A total of 41 (20%) patients developed high-grade vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia at a median follow-up of 65 (range, 6-120) months. We observed that only HPV persistence (HR: 2.37 [95%CI:1.03, 5.42]; P=0.04) was associated with the risk of recurrence at multivariate analysis. Seven (3.4%) invasive cancers of the lower genital tract were observed in our population. Considering the efficacy of type of procedure (after we applied the propensity-matched analysis), we observed that type of procedure did not influence persistence of HPV infection (22.8% after excision and 15.7% after ablation; P=0.424). Similarly, recurrence (17.1% vs. 18.6%; P=1.00) and lower genital tract (2.8% vs. 1.4%; P=1.00) rates were similar between groups. Women affected by high-grade vaginal intra-epithelial neoplasia are at high risk of recurrence. LASER ablation seems to be equivalent to excision in term of long-term effectiveness. Lasers Surg. Med. 50:933-939, 2018. (c) 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.