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Biopsy-based comparison of liquid-based, thin-layer preparations to conventional Pap smears
P Vassilakos1, D Schwartz, F de Marval
1Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland.
Objective:
To evaluate and compare histologic diagnosis of squamous intraepithelial neoplasia and cancer of the cervix with cytologic diagnosis using the conventional Pap smear versus the AutoCyte PREP liquid-based, thin-layer preparation.
Study Design:
Two randomly selected, large patient groups from the same population were studied using two different cervical cytology preparation techniques. Cytologic results were compared to histologic diagnosis to estimate the relative sensitivities and specificities of the preparations.
Results:
AutoCyte's liquid-based, thin-layer preparation method demonstrated improved agreement with histologic diagnosis as compared to the conventional Pap smear. This result supported the previously reported finding that use of this thin-layer method reduced atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance cases and substantially increased the detection of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs).
Conclusion:
Our cytohistologic correlation for conventional Pap smears and the AutoCyte PREP liquid-based preparations demonstrate that the increased rate of both low and high grade SILs on AutoCyte PREP reflects real detection as opposed to overdiagnosis.