1Associate Professor, Department of Pathology, Srinivas Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Mukka, Surathkal-574146, Mangalore, Karnataka, India
2Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad-580 009, Karnataka, India
*Email: padmaja.kul21@gmail.com
Online published on 3 August, 2013.
Papanicolaou smear or Pap test is a widely accepted screening test to detect carcinoma cervix in early stages. In developed counties like United Kingdom, incidence of carcinoma cervix is decreasing by 3.5% every year mainly because of well-organised screening programmes. However, this is not true in India where incidence and mortality due to cervical cancer is increasing every year.
The present study aims at evaluating the diagnostic accuracy of Pap smear in abnormal cervical smears and to analyse the factors responsible for discrepant cases.
The histological diagnoses were correlated with cytology diagnoses and diagnostic accuracy of cytology was calculated considering histological diagnosis as gold standard.
Pap smear showed sensitivity of 88.23%, specificity of 92.5%, positive predictive value of 71.42% and diagnostic accuracy of 91.7% in the present study.
The regular screening of women by Pap smear is a cost-effective method for early detection of premalignant and malignant cervical lesions and secondary prevention of carcinoma cervix.
Papanicolaou smear, Diagnostic accuracy, Cervical biopsy, Screening test, Cervical cancer
