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Endocervical component: Is it a determinant of specimen adequacy?
Author(s) -
Selvaggi Suzanne M.,
Guidos Barbara J.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
diagnostic cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1097-0339
pISSN - 8755-1039
DOI - 10.1002/dc.10019
Subject(s) - medicine , cervical intraepithelial neoplasia , squamous intraepithelial lesion , pap test , ascus (bryozoa) , gynecology , pathology , cervical cancer , cervical cancer screening , cancer , biology , botany , ascospore , spore
There is controversy in the literature concerning the presence or absence of an endocervical component as a determinant of the adequacy of cervical cellular samples. The purpose of this retrospective 2‐yr study (January 1, 1999–December 31, 2000) was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ThinPrep® Pap Tests™ with the presence or absence of an endocervical component from 151 women with subsequent tissue‐verified cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) II/III. Of the 138 Pap Tests™ containing an endocervical component, 100 (73%) showed exact cyto/histologic correlation and 38 (27%) were discordant. Of the 13 Pap Tests™ lacking an endocervical component, 10 (77%) showed exact correlation and 3 (23%) were discordant. Statistical analysis showed no significant difference in the detection of a high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) in those ThinPreps that contained an endocervical component from those that did not (P > 0.5). Further analysis of the 41 discordant ThinPrep® Pap Tests™ showed no significant difference between negative Pap Tests™ and discordant, yet abnormal Pap Tests™ (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, or low‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions) and the presence or absence of an endocervical component (P = 0.25). The results of this study seem to indicate that the issue of the lack of an endocervical component as a determinant of cervical specimen adequacy should be revisited. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2002;26:53–55. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.