At this time, please review the history, examination findings, results of hematologic and plasma biochemical profiles, radiographs (Figs 1 and 2), and
cytologic smear (Fig 3) and form a list of differential diagnoses before proceeding.
Liquid-based cervical
cytologic smear study and conventional Papanicolaou smears: A meta-analysis of prospective studies comparing cytologic diagnosis and sample adequacy.
The study, titled "Liquid-based cervical
cytologic smear study and conventional Papanicolaou smears: A metaanalysis of prospective studies comparing cytologic diagnosis and sample adequacy," by Bernstein et al.
Use of water-soluble gel in obtaining the cervical
cytologic smear.
The spontaneous abortion occurred in a patient who had a history of recurrent spontaneous abortions; she was in her first trimester, and she aborted 4 days after her cervical
cytologic smear with swab and spatula (Table 2).
Women with low-grade premalignant Pap smear results arc triaged based on cytologic findings alone and are not examined by colposcopy until a high-grade
cytologic smear is obtained.
In an attempt to establish the types of errors associated with cervical smears in this selected population, repeat cervical
cytologic smear slides of all biopsy-proven high-grade lesions were reviewed by one of the authors, a pathologist who regularly reads
cytologic smears at the study institution.
Women presenting for routine cervical cytologic screening and those who had previously had an atypical
cytologic smear were eligible.
The
cytologic smear at 4 months may show reparative changes, but no intervention is indicated unless there is clear-cut residual CIN.
Cervicography provides excellent ectocervical screening, and the
cytologic smear enables suitable endocervical screening.
The economic cost and risk of waiting three successive years for cytologic testing in an already defined noncompliant patient may exceed the cost for a single
cytologic smear with cervicography.
A companion "direct-to-vial" study by Corkill et al (18) showed, in contrast to the results presented here, an equivalent rate of SBLB ec-, and they concluded that "it is expected that the rate of representing endocervical component will be maintained when the ThinPrep preparation method is used routinely in place of the conventional
cytologic smear method.
