[Cervical cytological diagnosis of carcinoma]

The predictive value of specifically diagnosing carcinoma by cervical cytology and the sensitivity of the Pap smear in assessing cervical carcinoma were evaluated by retrieving all cytological diagnoses stating carcinoma and all histological diagnoses stating cervical carcinoma from our data files covering the period from 01.04.88 to 31.03.91. In 115 patients the specific cytodiagnosis was followed up by histology, and in 107 patients the histological diagnosis was preceded by a Pap smear no more than two months old. The cytological recognition of invasion depended on the depth of invasion. Macroinvasive squamous cell carcinoma was specifically diagnosed by cytology in 77 per cent of the cases, while the cytological prediction of squamous cell carcinoma was confirmed as invasive carcinoma in 83.3 per cent of the cases. Adenocarcinoma assessed by cytology was confirmed in 84.4 per cent of the cases, while the sensitivity in specifying the diagnosis cervical adenocarcinoma was 54.6 per cent. No false negative Pap smears were seen in the material.