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Long‐term follow‐up of patients following negative colposcopy: a new gold standard and its implications for cervical screening
Author(s) -
Da Forno P. D.,
Holbrook M. R.,
Nunns D.,
Shaw P. A. V.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
cytopathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.512
H-Index - 48
eISSN - 1365-2303
pISSN - 0956-5507
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2303.2003.00082.x
Subject(s) - colposcopy , medicine , gold standard (test) , referral , obstetrics , cervical screening , predictive value , biopsy , cytology , gynecology , cervical cancer , radiology , family medicine , cancer , pathology
From 1189 colposcopy referrals in 1997 at a single cervical screening centre, 88 women who had no biopsy taken at colposcopy (negative colposcopy) were identified. We followed up these women for a maximum of 4 years and calculated the positive predictive value (PPV) of a single smear before and after follow‐up. Using slide review we attempted to correlate the grade of smear leading to colposcopy referral with final outcome. Our results showed that long‐term follow‐up alters the PPV of cervical cytology. Analysis showed a strong correlation between the review grade of the referring smear and the final outcome after follow‐up. From these results we suggest an evidence‐based protocol for cervical screening follow‐up after negative colposcopy.