• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 1999

To evaluate whether different qualifications of a cytologic diagnosis of "atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance(ASCUS)" predict a greater or lesser likelihood of tissue diagnosis of uterine cervix, we compared different cytologic qualifications of ASCUS with the tissue diagnosis. One hundred twenty-two consecutive Papanicolaou smears showing ASCUS in women who had undergone cervical biopsy within nearest 30 days were collected. The 122 smears were qualified as "favor reactive"(25%), "favor low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL)"(24%), "favor squamous intraepithelial lesion(SIL)"(16%), "favor high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion(HSIL)"(16%), and "not otherwise specified"(19%). Squamous intraepithelial or invasive lesion was pathologically confirmed by cervical biopsy in 13%, of the "favor reactive", 27% in "favor LSIL", 70% in "favor SIL", 75%, in "favor HSIL", and 35% in "not otherwise specified" smears. There were significant associations between the favor reactive smear and the benign biopsy finding and between the favor SIL smear and the biopsy shewing a squamous intraepithelial or more severe lesion. Nevertheless, most of favor LSIL smears exhibit reactive process in tissue biopsy. Conclusively, qualified ASCUS stratifies women Into different risk groups for SIL. The cytopathologist should make the cytologic diagnosis of "ASCUS, favor LSIL" circumspectly.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.21-27
• /
• 2002

Papillary immature metaplasia (PIM) of the uterine cervix (Immature condyloma) is a subset of low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) which is frequently associated with human papilloma virus (HPV) types 6 and 11. The histologic features of PIM include filiform papillae lined by evenly spaced immature metaplastic-type cells with frequent nucleoli, mild anisokaryosis, and a low mitotic index. To characterize the cytologic changes associated with PIM, we analyzed 14 cases of PIM from our file. We reviewed biopsy slides and the cervicovaginal smears taken proximate to the time of blopsy. Histologically, nine cases had either flat condyloma (7 cases) or high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) (2 cases). Cytologic changes included cells in various stages of maturation with karyomegaly (14 cases), cells with irregularities in the nuclear membrane (13 cases), intermediate cells with karyomegaly(13 cases), cells with binucleatlon (13 cases), and aborted koliocytes (11 cases) Cervicovaginal smears from all cases were interpreted as atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), NOS or ASCUS, rule out squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) or LSIL in two cases with flat condyloma or HSIL in a case with severe dysplasia. PIM is a distinct histologic entity that can present with a spectrum of cytologic findings, but cytologic findings may resemble variable reactive conditions and immature HSIL. Therefore, it is difficult to diagnose PIM by cytology alone. However, the meticulous efforts for making the cytologic diagnoses which can Induce active management of patients are recommended because PIM is a variant of LSIL and frequently has a flat condyloma or HSIL.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.8
• /
• pp.3461-3464
• /
• 2014

Background: To determine the frequency of dysplastic lesions in the endocervical curettage (ECC) specimens of women with ASC-US and LSIL Pap and to evaluate the possible factors associated with high grade dysplasia in those ECC specimens. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and sixty patients with ASC-US and LSIL cytologic smears who underwent an ECC at the time of colposcopic examination during January 2010 and December 2012 were reviewed. Demographic and clinicopathologic data were collected. Multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression was used to identify factors that might be associated with high grade endocervical dysplasia. Results: The frequency of endocervical dysplasia was 7.7% (20 out of 260 patients). Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 1 and CIN 2-3 lesions in the endocervical canal were observed in 12 and 8 patients, respectively. No microinvasive or invasive cervical cancers were identified. There was no difference in the frequency of high grade endocervical dysplasia between the patients with satisfactory and unsatisfactory colposcopic examinations (1.4% vs 5.1%, respectively, p=0.087). A multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant association between high grade CIN on ectocervical biopsy as well as LSIL cytologic smears and high grade dysplasia in endocervical canal (OR=0.046, 95%CI=0.007-0.288; p=0.001 and OR=0.154, 95%CI=0.025-0.942; p=0.043, respectively). Conclusions: The frequency of high grade endocervical dysplasia in women with ASC-US and LSIL cytologic smears was low. Therefore, routine performance of ECC in those women is debatable. High grade ectocervical dysplasia and LSIL cytologic smears may be used as predictors for high grade dysplasia in endocervical canal and ECC in these patients is reasonable.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.2129-2132
• /
• 2014

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the most common female malignancies with high mortality rates in developing countries. Our purpose was to determine the prevalence of cervical cytological abnormalities by cervical cytology (CC) and the analysis of risk factors in Albanian population. Materials and Methods: A total of 5,416 conventional pap smear tests collected between January 2009 and January 2012 from Tirana University Hospital Obstetrics-Gynecology "Queen Geraldine" were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 258 (4.8%) cases had epithelial abnormalities. The numbers and rates were as follows: atypical squamous cell of undetermined significance (ASCUS; n=150 [2.76%]); atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance (AGUS; n=8 [0.14%]); low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL; n=87 [1.6%]); high- grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL; n=10 [0.18%]); and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; n=3 [0.05%]). Conclusions: The prevalence of cervical cytological abnormality in our study was 4.8%. A larger community-based study may establish the exact prevalence of malignant and premalignant lesions, so as to plan for future screening.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.2051-2055
• /
• 2014

Background: To evaluate the performance of Siriraj liquid-based cytology (LBC) for cervical neoplasia screening after increasing use of this technology. Materials and Methods: Cytological reports of 103,057 Siriraj-LBC specimens obtained in 2007-2009 were compared with those of 23,676 specimens obtained in 2006. Results: Comparing with the year 2006, the 2007-2009 patients were slightly older ($43.4{\pm}12.yr$ vs $42.7{\pm}12.2yr$, p <0.001), and their specimens had much lower proportion of unsatisfactory slides (OR=0.06, 95%CI 0.04-0.09) with comparable detection rates (3.96% vs 3.70%, p=0.052) but different proportions of various cytological abnormalities (p<0.001). The 2007-2009 Siriraj-LBC had a negative predictive value (NPV) for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 2+ (CIN2+) of 97.6% and an overall positive predictive value (PPV) of 43.9%. The PPV for CIN2+ varied with types of abnormal cytology, from 13.7% to 93.8% in atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS), low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), atypical squamous cells cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL), atypical glandular cells (AGC), to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), respectively. The PPVs for CIN2+ in ASCUS and LSIL were comparable, but the PPV for CIN1 was higher for LSIL than for ASCUS (41.63% vs 16.32%). Conclusions: Siriraj-LBC has demonstrated a stable detection rate and NPV for CIN2+ of >95% since the first year of use. The comparable PPVs for CIN2+ of ASCUS and LSIL suggests that these two conditions may undergo similar management; other cytological abnormalities need immediate evaluation.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.139-146
• /
• 1998

The AutoPap 300 QC System is an automated device for the analysis and classification of conventional cervical cytology slides for quality control purpose. These studies evaluated the sensitivity of the AutoPap 300 QC System, and estimated morphologic features other than epithelial abnormality to identify a high quality control(QC) score with the AutoPap 300 QC System. The sensitivity of the AutoPap 300 QC System at 10% review rate for 210 cases of cervicovaginal cytology with low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion(LSIL) and higher grade lesion was assessed, and compared with a 10% random rescreening. The morphologic features, such as presence of endocervical component, dirty background, atrophy, abnormal ceil size, and celluiarity of single atypical cells were estimated in 45 cases of no review and 30 cases of QC review cases. The AutoPap 300 QC System identified 119(56.7%) out of 210 cases with LSIL and higher grade lesion at 10% review rate. It was more sensitive to squamous cell lesions$(50{\sim}62%)$ than to glandular lesions(10%). The dirty background and the scanty cellularity of single atypical cells were significantly related to low QC score. Conclusively, AutoPap 300 QC System is superior to human random rescreen for the identification of false negative smears. The upgrading of this device is required to enhance the defection of glandular lesion and certain Inadequate conditions of the slides.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.6
• /
• pp.2327-2331
• /
• 2015

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) in detecting high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in pre- and post-menopausal women with atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) Papanicolaou (Pap) smears. Materials and Methods: Two hundred women (150 pre-menopausal and 50 post-menopausal) with ASC-US and LSIL cytology who attended the colposcopy clinic, Thammasat University Hospital, between March 2013 and August 2014 were included. All women underwent VIA testing and colposcopy by gynecologic oncologists. Diagnostic values of VIA testing including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) for detecting high-grade CIN were determined using the histopathology obtained from colposcopic-directed biopsy as a gold standard. Results: VIA testing was positive in 54/150 (36%) pre-menopausal women and 5/50 (10%) post-menopausal women. Out of 54 pre-menopausal women with positive VIA testing, 15 (27.8%) had high-grade CIN and 39 (72.2%) had either CIN 1 or insignificant pathology. Ten (10.4%), 43 (44.8%) and 43 (44.8%) out of the remaining 96 pre-menopausal women with negative VIA testing had high-grade CIN, CIN 1 and insignificant pathology, respectively. Out of 5 post-menopausal women with positive VIA testing, there were 4 (80%) women with high-grade CIN, and 1 (20%) women with insignificant pathology. Out of 45 VIA-negative post-menopausal women, 42 (93.3%) women had CIN 1 and insignificant pathology, and 3 (6.7%) had high-grade CIN. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV of the VIA testing were 59.4%, 76.2%, 32.2% and 90.8%, respectively (60%, 68.8%, 27.8% and 89.6% in pre-menopausal women and 57.1%, 97.7%, 80% and 93.3% in post-menopausal women). Conclusions: VIA testing may be used as a screening tool for detecting high-grade CIN in women with minor cervical cytological abnormalities in a low-resource setting in order to lower the rate of colposcopy referral.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.81-85
• /
• 2004

Postmenopausal squamous atypia (PSA) is a phenomenon characterized by cellular alterations mimicking condyloma in the uterine cervix of postmenopausal women. It is not associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. The aim of this study is to correlate findings with HPV infection and the cytohistologic findings of PSA. Eighty-three smears from postmenopausal women, initially interpreted as ASCUS and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions(LSIL), were reviewed according to the criteria of PSA. Fifty-eight cases were subsequently reclassified as PSA. Forty cases categorized as PSA were available for HPV-DNA detection by a nested polymerase chain reaction. Eight of these 40 cases(20%) showed biopsy-proven LSIL lesions. The HPV-DNA was detected in 42.5%(17/40), compared to 25%(5/20) of control cases. The HPV-DNA detection rate of biopsy-proven LSIL was 62.5%(5/8). It has been concluded that cytologic differential diagnosis of PSA from LSIL is difficult due to because of poor histologic and viral correlation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.2979-2982
• /
• 2013

Cervical cancer is a commonly-encountered malignant tumor in women. Cervical screening is particularly important due to early symptoms being deficient in specificity. The main purpose of the study is to assess the application value of cervical thinprep cytologic test (TCT) and human papillomavirus (HPV) detection in screening for cervical cancer and precancerous lesions. In the study, cervical TCT and HPV detection were simultaneously performed on 12,500 patients selected in a gynecological clinic. Three hundred patients with positive results demonstrated by cervical TCT and/or HPV detection underwent cervical tissue biopsy under colposcopy, and pathological results were considered as the gold standard. The results revealed that 200 out of 12,500 patients were abnormal by TCT, in which 30 cases pertained to equivocal atypical squamous cells (ASCUS), 80 cases to low squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL), 70 cases to high squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) and 20 cases to squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). With increasing pathological grade of cervical biopsy, however, TCT positive rates did not rise. Two hundred and eighty out of 12,500 patients were detected as positive for HPV infection, in which 50 cases were chronic cervicitis and squamous metaplasia, 70 cases cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) I, 60 cases CIN II, 70 cases CIN III and 30 cases invasive cervical carcinoma. Two hundred and thirty patients with high-risk HPV infection were detected. With increase in pathological grade, the positive rate of high-risk HPV also rose. The detection rates of HPV detection to CIN III and invasive cervical carcinoma as well as the total detection rate of lesions were significantly higher than that of TCT. Hence, HPV detection is a better method for screening of cervical cancer at present.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.24
• /
• pp.10961-10966
• /
• 2015

Background: Minor cervical cytologic abnormalities include atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL). Approximately 10-20% of women with minor cytologic abnormalities have histologic high-grade squamous intraepithelial or worse lesions (HSIL+). In Thailand, women with minor cytologic abnormalities have a relatively high risk of cervical cancer, and referral for colposcopy has been suggested. A triage test is useful in the selection of women at risk for histologic HSIL+ to reduce the colposcopy burden. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of high-risk HPV DNA test in triage of women with minor cytologic abnormalities in northern Thailand. Materials and Methods: All women with ASC-US/LSIL cytology who were referred to our colposcopy clinic from October 2010 to February 2014 were included. HPV DNA testing was performed using Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2). All patients received colposcopic examination. Accuracy values of HC2 in predicting the presence of histologic HSIL+ were calculated. Results: There were 238 women in this study (121 ASC-US and 117 LSIL). The HC2 positivity rate was significantly higher in the LSIL group than in ASC-US group (74.8% versus 41.0%, p<0.001). Histologic HSIL+ was detected in 9 women (7.4%) in the ASC-US group and 16 women (13.7%) in the LSIL group (p=0.141). There was no histologic HSIL+ detected among HC2-negative cases (sensitivity and negative predictive value of 100%). The performance of HC2 triage was highest among women aged >50 years with ASC-US cytology. An increase in the cut-off threshold for positive HC2 resulted in a substantial decrease of sensitivity and negative predictive value. Conclusions: HPV DNA testing with HC2 shows very high sensitivity and negative predictive value in triage of women with minor cervical cytologic abnormalities in northern Thailand. An increase of the cut-off threshold for HC2 triage is not recommended in this region.