Applicability of On-Site Evaluation of Cervical Cytology Smears Stained with Toluidine Blue to Reduce Unsatisfactory Results

Abstract

Introduction: Carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a major health problem faced by Indian women. Screening techniques like visual inspection with acetic acid, Lugol’s iodine, Papanicolaou smear, and human papillomavirus DNA testing have been suggested. Pap smear is a simple, safe, cost-effective, and reliable technique used for screening cervical lesions. Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) using the 1% aq. toluidine blue staining method has been less studied in cervical cytology. Materials and Methods: Our study was a prospective study done over a period of 2 years. All the cervical cytology smears were reported as per the Bethesda system 2014. Rapid stain using aqueous toluidine blue (1%) and conventional Pap stain was done on the smears received. Results: We evaluated a total of 1,300 cases, with 97.6% satisfactory samples. The spectrum of cases included 96.3% of negative for malignancy cases (including bacterial vaginosis, trichomonas, candida, and atrophic smears), atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance and atypical squamous cells cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion in 0.5% cases, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and high-grade intraepithelial lesion in 0.3% cases, squamous cell carcinoma in 0.3% cases, and atypical glandular cells/adenocarcinoma in 0.2% cases. Turnaround time was within 48 h in 77% cases. With rapid stain, our unsatisfactory rate was reduced from 12% to approx. 2.4%. Conclusion: ROSE has been attempted on routine FNA cytology samples with success. However, the use of ROSE in cervical cytology has not been attempted to date. Lower unsatisfactory rate is an important indicator for the successful implementation of cervical cancer screening technique.