WKU News

Ta'Neka C. Vaden, Women's Health and Adult Nurse Practitioner, has recently completed colposcopy training and WKU Health Service will be adding a new service. This service is known as colposcopy and will likely be available as of late Summer/Fall 2009.

Colposcopy is a medical diagnostic procedure to examine an illuminated, magnified view of the cervix and the tissues of the vagina and vulva. Many premalignant lesions and malignant lesions in these areas have discernible characteristics which can be detected through the examination. It is done using a colposcope, which provides an enlarged view of the areas, allowing the colposcopist to visually distinguish normal from abnormal appearing tissue and take directed biopsies for further pathological examination. The main goal of colposcopy is to prevent cervical cancer by detecting precancerous lesions early and treating them.

Pap smears are used as a screening for cervical abnormalities and should not be considered diagnostic. Abnormal pap results are usually secondary to the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). Prolonged infections of HPV can lead to serious health consequences including cervical cancer. The only way to assess for the dangers of this virus is by having regular pap smears and/or following up on abnormal pap smear results.

Ta'Neka attended the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology Conference in January 2009. The conference was for any provider wishing to learn or update their colpo skills. Attendees learned the basics of colposcopy and management of abnormal pap smears.

Health Services is adding this service to make follow up on abnormal paps more convenient for our patients and decrease their discomfort with going to a new provider. We will only provide the colposcopy (with biopsies if needed) in our office. Any further treatment will still be referred out.

In addition, Ta'Neka is being mentored by a local GYN to get hands on experience.

Referenced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colposcopy