Do Qualifiers of ASCUS Distinguish Between Low- and High-Risk Patients?

Cervicovaginal Smear Abnormalities in Sexually Active Adolescents

“…[12][13][14] Although controversial, the stratification of ASCUS into reactive and dysplastic categories is thought to aid in determining which lesions are most likely to be associated with dysplasia. 13,[15][16][17][18] To the best of our knowledge, there is only one study in the Englishlanguage literature addressing the follow-up of ASCUS diagnosis in adolescents. 19 In that study, the incidence of ASCUS in patients aged 14-18 years was 10.9%.…”

“…Thus, 524 adolescents met the study criteria. The mean age was 15.7 years (range, [13][14][15][16][17]. The results of adolescent Pap smears in comparison to those from adult women are shown in Table I.…”

Accuracy of Liquid-Based Pap Tests

“…28 Since follow-up biopsies would be obtained because of an abnormal cytologic result, the false negative fraction could either not be calculated or would be greatly underestimated. Comparing concurrent cytology and biopsy allows false negatives and false positives to be determined, but it does not estimate the accuracy of a screening procedure since the biopsied population would have been previously screened and would have a high rate of cervical pathology.…”

Eliminating the Diagnosis Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Signi.cance

“…2 However, some investigators detected significant lesions even in the ASCUSreactive group. 4,5,11 To resolve this issue to some extent, the 2001 Bethesda System has simplified this diagnostic category by eliminating the ASCUSreactive group and limiting the diagnosis to ASCUS and atypical squamous cells, cannot exclude HSIL (ASC-H), both requiring follow-up. 12 In our laboratory, the ASCUS rate was 5.9% (720 of 12,071) according to Bethesda 1991.…”

“…1 Follow-up of these smears has shown varied results, ranging from a very few significant lesions to a very high percentage of high grade lesions. [2][3][4][5] The results of the ASCUS-LSIL Triage Study (ALTS), the largest trial to date, revealed that the majority of ASCUS cases harbor only benign lesions. On analysis of the cases that were colposcoped immediately following the ASCUS diagnosis, it was found that 25.4% had no significant lesion on colposcopic examination, 46.9% had no pathologic findings on biopsy, and 14.5% had low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) lesions that most likely were benign biologically and usually regressed spontaneously.…”