Diagnostic utility of ThinPrep Imaging System® for detecting atypical glandular cells in cervical smear samples

The ThinPrep Imaging System® (TIS) is an automated system that has now been used for over 20 years in the primary screening of ThinPrep liquid-based cervical samples. Although there are a lot of publications about the diagnostic utility of this method in squamous cell lesions, which has advantages such as time-saving and standardization, there are only a few publications on this issue in glandular cell lesions in the literature. We aimed in this study to investigate the diagnostic utility of the system in the detection of premalignant and malignant glandular lesions in cervical smears.

Our study was conducted retrospectively, and a total of 126 cervical smear samples between 2010 and 2022 that have histological confirmation of endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC), endocervical adenocarcinoma (ECAC), or adenocarcinoma in situ (AİS), were included. These samples were re-evaluated by manual and TIS by two experienced pathologists, and the results were compared in terms of sensitivity.

We found out that 70 of the 126 smear samples have atypical glandular cells. We detect 48 cases (48/70) (sensitivity 68.5%) in manual examination, however TIS successfully determined 66 cases (66/70) (sensitivity 94.3%). In 4 cases (5.7%) TIS could not detect the atypical cells within the 22 areas.

TIS is quite an effective method with a high sensitivity for detecting atypical glandular cells in cervical smears, like detecting squamous cell anomalies. Imposing this system in our laboratory and using them appropriately, save us time and help to ensure standardization. Additionally, it may be a good way to adopt artificial intelligence and digital pathology in today's world.