[Unified methods for vaginal cytological diagnosis are required. Accuracy of the ASCUS respective CIN I compared]

A study is focused on the evaluation and comparison of the Bethesda ASCUS-diagnosis (Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance) with the CIN I-classification (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia). From 1996 to 1999 2070 cases were reported as being ASCUS, which represented 2.5 per cent of 81,518 gynecological cases diagnosed during the same period. In 479 cases (23 per cent) a subsequent biopsy and/or endocervical curettage was performed. The control group was 740 (24 procent) of 3113 cases with CIN I diagnosis. Out of these two groups only those cases were selected that had undergone biopsy after either ASCUS diagnosis (135 cases) or CIN I diagnosis (740 cases). Out of the 135 ASCUS cases 25 (19 per cent) showed condylomata, 39 (29 per cent) cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I) and 20 (14 per cent) CIN II-III. No case of carcinoma was detected after histological examination. The control group of 740 cases included 102 (14 per cent) with condylomata, 208 (28 per cent) with CIN I and 118 (16 per cent) with CIN II-III. Among patients with an ASCUS diagnosis after cytology and subsequent cervical biopsy 43 per cent had cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, either CIN I or CIN II-III, as against 44 per cent in the control group. These findings indicate that ASCUS cytologically defines a group of patients with or at risk for developing of a squamous intraepithelial lesion.