Epidemiological and Cytopathological Profile of Dysplastic Lesions of the Cervix in South-Kivu/Dr Congo

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in the world. The recrudescence of dysplastic lesions is increasing, especially in developing countries, because of the absence of screening. The objective of this work is to determine the prevalence of dysplastic lesions of the cervix in women who are sexually active in South Kivu province. Methods: It was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study of 625 women who came for gynecological consultation, all of whom had cervical-uterine Pap smears, during the period from January 1st, 2017 to December 31st, 2018 at Panzi General Referral Hospital (South Kivu, DR Congo). Data analysis was done using Epi Info software version 7. Results: The median age of the respondents was 34 years, 47.0% of them were married, and 59.0% had a low socio-economic level. The majority had first sexual intercourse between the ages of 15 and 20 (67.5%), a number of former sexual partners estimated at 1 - 5 (87.8%), did not use tobacco (97.4%) and did not use contraception (78.1%). Pap smear was normal in 82.88% of cases, inflammatory in 2.4% of cases and with cytologic abnormalities in 14.72% of cases. Rates of dysplastic lesions were significantly higher among women aged ≥35 years (p = 0.0245), brides (p = 0.0183) and nulliparas (p = 0.0042). Multivariate analysis revealed the adjusted OR (95% CI) statistically insignificant (p < 0.05) for the age group, marital status and parity respondents. Conclusion: Cervical cancer remains a real scourge in the world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where the diagnosis is often made when the pathology is at its stage almost incurable. Early detection of dysplastic lesions by Pap smear is therefore imperative in the eradication of this pathology.