OBJECTIVE To determine the effectiveness of preoperative investigations in early cervical cancer. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 309 patients with previously untreated early cervical carcinoma who completed pretreatment evaluation at "St. Savas" Cancer Hospital of Athens and "Metaxas" Memorial Hospital of Peireas between January 1986 and September 1, 2000. Ages ranged from 18-77 years old with a mean age of 48 and S.D. of 12.25. FIGO staging was Ib (200 pts.), IIa (105 pts.), IV (4 pts.). Histologic type was squamous (267 pts.), adenoid (35 pts.), adenosquamous (7 pts.). The patients were clinically examined and routinely evaluated with blood work-up, chest X-ray, IVP, abdominal CT scan, barium enema, sigmoidoscopy, cystoscopy, and/or urine cytology. Patients with early stage cervical carcinoma were treated with Wertheim-Meigs radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy, while those with advanced stage cervical carcinoma were treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy. RESULTS In urinary tract investigation, CT showed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 99.67%. In gastrointestinal tract investigation CT showed a sensitivity of 50% and a specificity of 99.67%. When we compared the histologic findings of the pelvic lymph nodes that were extracted in surgically treated patients with the preoperative CT findings, we found that CT had a sensitivity of 63.33% and a specificity of 88.57%. CONCLUSIONS In our series of patients with early stage cervical carcinoma, imaging and endoscopic tests added limited information over pelvic examination and altered in four cases (1.29%) the choice of the appropriate treatment modality. CT scans proved adequate in this series of patients in the evaluation of the bladder and colon. All other tests could have been performed only when CT was suspicious of invasion. Moreover, CT served as a baseline examination for future comparative studies in the follow-up of patients.