Evaluation of cytological pattern of cervical Papanicolaou smears

Abstract

Background and Objective: Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in India and leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Cervical cancer is preventable, and can be diagnosed at the pre-invasive stage with adequate and repetitive cytological screening with Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. This is a prospective study aimed to evaluate all the cervical smears examined at our institute during one year period. Methods: Detailed clinical data and Pap smear cytology were obtained from August 2013 to July 2014. After doing Pap stain, all cases were reported as per the 2001 Bethesda system. Results: A total of 450 Pap smears were examined. Maximum number of patients was in the age group of fourth decade. There were 40 unsatisfactory or inadequate samples (8.6%). A total of 388 smears were reported as Negative for Intraepithelial Lesion or Malignancy (NILM), of which 80(17.8%) showed normal cytological findings and 308(68.5%) were inflammatory. Out of a total of 330(73.4%) abnormal Pap smears, only 22(4.9%) cases were reported to have epithelial cell abnormality. The 22 abnormal cases comprised of 10 cases with ASC-US, 6 cases of LSIL, 3 cases of HSIL and 3 cases of Invasive Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Conclusion: Pap smear is an easy and economical screening method to detect premalignant and malignant lesions of cervix which help in proper treatment. It also suggests a need for further evaluation and follow-up.