From 1965 to 1995, at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center, 1223 patients with stage IA2, IB, or IIA cervical cancer have undergone a radical hysterectomy. The charts of these patients were reviewed retrospectively for pathology reports showing positive or close surgical margins. Fifty-one of these cases had final pathology results interpreted as close vaginal margins (CVM), which we define as tumor less than or equal to 0.5 cm from the vaginal margins of resection. All slides of blocks with close vaginal margins were found and reviewed by a single pathologist. Twenty-eight (54.9%) had parametrial involvement or positive lymph nodes and received adjuvant radiation therapy (RT). Of the remaining 23 cases, only 6 had other high risk factors, tumor greater than 4 cm, poorly differentiated, greater than 50% invasion, or lymphovascular space involvement. Sixteen of 23 received radiation. The 5-year survival was significantly greater with RT, 81.3%, than without RT, 28.6% (P < 0.05). The recurrence rate was also decreased from 85.7 to 12.5% (P < 0.01). Although present in less than 2% of radical hysterectomy specimens, CVM without other high risk factors may be an important prognostic variable that should be considered when making adjuvant therapy decisions.