Objective: The purpose of this study is to report our experience with the implementation of the ThinPrep Imaging System (TIS) in a tertiary hospital in Korea and to evaluate the effectiveness of the TIS compared to manual methods in the screening of cervical cytology. Study Design: Detection rates of cervical abnormalities in the pre- and post-TIS periods (January 2009 to February 2010 and March 2010 to December 2010, respectively) were compared. Follow-up cytological and histological results with concurrent or subsequent human papillomavirus (HPV) tests were retrieved. Results: ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL were more frequently detected in the post-TIS period than in the pre-TIS period (p < 0.005). The proportions of correlated cases of ASC-US were 42.2 and 40.4% in the pre- and post-TIS periods, respectively. The detection rates of high-risk types of HPV in ASC-US were not significantly different between the two groups. The proportion of correlated biopsy for ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL was similar in both periods. HPV positivity for ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL showed no significant change between the two periods. Conclusion: The TIS is potentially useful for the detection of abnormal cervical cytology on the basis of the increased detection rate of squamous cell abnormalities, with a relatively similar proportion of correlated cases compared to the manual screening method.

Background: Since 1995, the Korean Society for Cytopathology has overseen the Continuous Quality Improvement program for cytopathology laboratories. The Committee of Quality Improvement has carried out an annual survey of cytology data for each laboratory and set standards for proficiency tests. Methods: Evaluations were conducted four times per year from 2008 to 2018 and comprised statistics regarding cytology diagnoses of previous years, proficiency tests using cytology slides provided by the committee, assessment of adequacy of gynecology (GYN) cytology slides, and submission of cytology slides for proficiency tests. Results: A total of 206 institutes participated in 2017, and the results were as follows. The number of cytology tests increased from year to year. The ratio of liquid-based cytology in GYN gradually decreased, as most of the GYN cytology had been performed at commercial laboratories. The distribution of GYN diagnoses demonstrated nearly 3.0% as atypical squamous cells. The rate for squamous cell carcinoma was less than 0.02%. The atypical squamous cell/squamous intraepithelial lesion ratio was about 3:1 and showed an upward trend. The major discordant rate of cytology-histology in GYN cytology was less than 1%. The proficiency test maintained a major discordant rate less than 2%. The rate of inappropriate specimens for GYN cytology slides gradually decreased. Conclusions: The Continuous Quality Improvement program should be included in quality assurance programs. Moreover, these data can contribute to development of national cancer examination guidelines and facilitate cancer prevention and treatment.