Premalignant Conditions of the Vulva, with Particular Reference to Chronic Epithelial Dystrophies

Non‐Infective Cutaneous Conditions of the Vulva

“…The dermatological and gynaecological literature developed separately and many different names were given to identical conditions. Jeffcoate and Woodcock (1961) preferred to sweep away the former plethora of terms and to substitute the all-embracing concept of a 'dystrophy'. This in turn led to the classification adopted by the fledgling International Society for the Study of Vulval Disease (ISSVD) in 1976…”

“…It was at this stage that Jeffcoate and Woodcock (1961) tried to simplify the situation; beginning with an analysis of all putative causes of vulval malignancy (and noting with perspicacity the possibility of a 'field change') they then went on to consider leukoplakia and leukoplakic vulvitis. They commented that the clinician expected the pathologist to give the diagnosis of leukoplakia, whereas the pathologist felt that it was a clinical diagnosis and would have no part in it.…”

Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus and Neoplastic Transformation

“…However, nearly all of the studies published before the 1975 ISSVD classification of vulvar distrophies 4 contain data that are unusable, because they use poorly defined terminology (such as leukoplakia, kraurosis, dystrophy) and lack uniform diagnostic criteria for lichen sclerosus. [5][6][7][8][9][10] The 1975 ISSVD classification of vulvar distrophies introduced VLS as a separate entity with clearly defined clinical and histological features. 4 In the studies after 1975, the mean incidence risk of developing neoplasia in women with VLS is 2.8%.…”

A clinico-pathological study of vulval dermatoses.

“…The cases of leukoplakia of McAdams and Kistner (1958) with cellular and nuclear atypia show the highest rate of malignant change. These cases could loosely be grouped with those with disorderly overactive epithelium described by Jeffcoate and Woodcock (1961). The three cases from Manchester in which malignancy supervened did not show such cellular or nuclear atypia.…”