Colposcopy and cervical cancer early detection

The North American experience

Abstract

This article follows the history of the use of colposcopy in the United States, in an attempt to show how diagnostic technique has been used in that country, especially as a way to clear up doubts in Pap smear test results. Analyzing American journals, it explores how the discussions about the possibility of an increased use of colposcopy as a cervical cancer control tool were present in American medical literature between 1950 and 1970. Preliminarily, it points out the reasons that limited the use of colposcopy in that country.