Related Experiment Video For Brushing
Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Collection, Isolation, and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Human Endocervical Samples
Published on: July 6, 2014
Brushing versus curettage: Which is the best sampling mode in potmenopausal women with suspected endocervical
Jesús Joaquín Hijona Elósegui1, Teresa Rodríguez Hijona2, Ángela Ortuño Blanco1
1Servicio de Ginecología, Hospital Universitario Materno-Infantil de Jaén, Avenida Ejército Español 10, 23007 Jaén, Spain.
Introduction:
Assessment of the endocervical canal is essential when cervical dysplasia or neoplasia is suspected. In postmenopausal women, anatomical and histological changes associated with hypoestrogenism may hinder diagnostic evaluation. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of endocervical brushing and endocervical curettage in this population.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective study including 270 postmenopausal women with suspected endocervical preneoplastic or neoplastic lesions. Each patient underwent both endocervical brushing and curettage in a randomized sequence during the same visit. The diagnostic performance of both techniques was assessed against the histopathological diagnosis of the surgical specimen (conization or hysterectomy), which served as the reference standard.
Results:
Endocervical curettage showed higher sensitivity than brushing with the difference approaching statistical significance. The Youden index was substantially higher for curettage. In addition, the proportion of insufficient samples was significantly lower with curettage than with brushing.
Discussion:
In contrast to studies conducted in the general population, which have reported comparable diagnostic performance for both techniques, our findings suggest that endocervical curettage may provide superior diagnostic accuracy in postmenopausal women.
