Brush cytology from the uterine cervix

Invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix is a common neoplasm even in countries with extensive screening programmes of several years. The incidence rate per 100,000 is still around 18 in Denmark. The reasons for these persistently high rates of incidence despite various prophylactic measures are many and have been thoroughly discussed over recent years. It is imperative, however, to avoid sampling errors in screening procedures for precancerous lesions, especially erroneous interpretations arising from insufficient cytological material. To improve cytological sampling from the uterine cervix we decided to compare a recently introduced brush technique with the routine procedure in our hospital.