Single-slide Pap smear: an acceptable alternative to the double-slide Pap smear

Pap smears obtained with Ayre spatula and cytobrush by four experienced private practice gynecologists were submitted to the cytology laboratory on either two slides or one slide. For each physician, 500 consecutive cases were studied for each of 4 consecutive years. Compared to the first 2 years (double-slide cases), the rates of abnormal smears increased from 4.28 to 5.58% while the number of unsatisfactory smears decreased from 1.83 to 0.98% for the years with all single-slide cases. These changes were not statistically significant. Follow-up biopsy findings were not different between the groups. Similar findings were seen when the medical community that submits smears to this laboratory began to use primarily a single-slide technique. The daily screening workload in the laboratory decreased 29% as mostly one-slide smears were submitted despite an increase of 10% in the number of cases. The double-slide method for Pap smears can be safely replaced by a single-slide method.