A clinical evaluation of 3,500 vaginal cytologic studies

Abstract

1. Analysis has been made of 3,500 vaginal cytologic studies and of the clinical and/or tissue follow-up of these cases. Eighty-five cases of carcinoma of the uterus, cervix, vagina, or vulva were discovered.2. In eighteen cases of adenocarcinoma there were thirteen positive smears and five negative, yielding a false negative error of 27.8 per cent. In addition, six smears were mistakenly called adenocarcinoma for a false positive error of 31.6 per cent. In sixty-seven cases of squamous carcinoma, there were four false negative smears, giving a false negative error of 5.9 per cent, and there were eleven false positive smears with an error of 14.9 per cent.3. In all, nine smears were erroneously called negative for a total negative error of 10.6 per cent. On the other hand, seventeen smears called positive were proved incorrect for a total false positive error of 18.4 per cent. The combined error for the entire series is thus twenty-six out of 3,500 cases, or 0.74 per cent.4. An attempt has been made to show that the statistical picture presenting the results of a controlled study of vaginal smears often falls far short of representing the true value of the technique to the clinician and the patient.