Photodynamic laser therapy of the cervix

Photodynamic therapy has been proposed for the treatment of HPV induced dysplasia of the cervix uteri as it has the potential of normalisation without loss of functional tissue as well as virusdevitalisation. A new light diffuser for homogeneous irradiation of the complete cervical surface was evaluated during an open pilot study. The design incorporates a cylindric (intracervical) and spheric: (surface of portio) shape. During an outpatient procedure laser irradiation with less than or equal to 150 mW/cm(2) was performed utilizing a Dye laser at 635 nm. 70 patients with suspect PAP smear were included in this study. Laser irradiation was performed 4 hours after topical application of 10% ALA solution. Reevaluation verified a normalisation of the cytologic results and implicated a PDT induced virusdevitalisation in 9 out of 70 cases.