Endocervical cell recovery

Three thousand six hundred fourteen Papanicolaou smear reports were evaluated for endocervical cells and characteristics of the patients at the time the slide was taken. Differences were found related to the age of the patient, pregnancy/postpartum status, and cytology. The use of hormones when the smear was taken did not appear to affect the presence of endocervical cells. Many clinicians, believing that not obtaining endocervical cells results from failure to sample the endocervical canal, repeat those smears. This study is consistent with previous ones in finding that other factors, including patient characteristics, have a definite effect on the results. Repeating smears solely for lack of endocervical cells does not appear to be warranted for either the patient or the provider.