Current use of the Papanicolaou class system in gynecologic cytology

The purpose of this study was to survey, by circulation of a questionnaire, pathologists, cytotechnologists, and clinicians regarding their use of the Papanicolaou class system in gynecologic cytology. The results indicate that (1) the class system is being used in reporting by 72% of respondents; (2) a descriptive diagnosis is used by 97% of respondents; (3) patient treatment may be influenced by the class assigned; and (4) there is a lack of agreement regarding the assignment of classes to cytologic entities, there being no total agreement across the survey groups regarding the classes assigned to any of 34 cytologic entities. It was concluded that little benefit is gained from the use of a class system since cytologic entities were not assigned classes uniformly by respondents. The results of this study support those who advocate discontinuation of the Papanicolaou class system in favor of a descriptive diagnosis.