[Medical Q&A] What is “cervical erosion”?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Jia Xuemei, Chief Physician, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University

"Cervical erosion" used to be a disease that troubled many women. When women went for a physical examination, they were almost always diagnosed with "cervical erosion". Now the name of "cervical erosion" has been cancelled in the "Obstetrics and Gynecology" textbook for medical students, and replaced with "cervical columnar epithelial ectopia" (physiological phenomenon).

There are two different types of cells in the cervix. The ones close to the vagina are squamous epithelial cells, which have several layers and are relatively thick. The ones close to the uterus are columnar epithelial cells, which have only one layer and are relatively thin. These two types of epithelial cells are different in appearance. The columnar epithelium looks like "erosion", while the squamous epithelium looks relatively smooth. Before puberty, women's ovarian function is not perfect, and their estrogen levels are low. The columnar epithelium is close to the inside of the cervical canal. If you check it at this time, the cervix is ​​smooth; after menstruation, the columnar epithelium develops more outward under the influence of estrogen, and more columnar epithelial cells similar to "erosion" are found during the examination of the cervical opening; after menopause, women's estrogen levels drop, and the columnar epithelium begins to retract to the inside of the cervical canal. At this time, the "erosion" is no longer visible during the examination.