Cytohistopathological Correlation of Papanicolaou Smears: A hospital based Study

Carcinoma of cervix is the second most common cancer in women worldwide and the leading cause of death from cancer in several developing countries including India. The use of the cervical smear (Papanicolaou/Pap) as a screening tool has significantly reduced the incidence of cervical cancer. Cytohis-topathological correlation of Pap smear is a widely accepted method of internal quality assurance and helps in the analysis of various factors leading to discrepant diagnosis. With the above view, the present study has been carried out to evaluate the cytohistopathological correlation of the various cervical lesions.

The study was retrospective cross-sectional hospital based study carried out over a period of 1 year in which out of 500 pap smears screened, cytohistopathological correlation of 70 cases were obtained.

Specificity in the present study was 84.2% and the sensitivity was 77.7%. The accuracy of Pap smears was 82.1%. The overall correlation between cytology and histopathology was found to be 57% with the highest correlation in the high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) category (87.5%).

The study provides good cytohistopathological correlation especially for high grade lesions. So we believe that the success of screening for cervical cancer is based on collection of adequate materials and correct interpretation of abnormal cells.