European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Background: Cancer of uterine cervix is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in developing countries including India due to lack of proper screening, especially in the rural and suburban areas. This may be due to dearth of awareness amongst the women of developing countries. Cervical carcinoma is the fourth most common cancer in the world. Developing countries accounted to about 80% of the global burden. This retrospective study was conducted to highlight the importance of Pap smear examination as screening test in differentiating inflammatory, premalignant and malignant lesions.
Materials and Methods: This retrospective study was conducted among 1000 cervical pap smears of women with age group 20 to 75 years coming to the obstetrics and gynaecology department and cytology section of pathology, Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospiatal Patiala. All the smears were reported as per the 2014 Bethesda system.
Results: In Our study, we found 12.1% inadequate smear for reporting, 35% cases NILM including inflammatory smear, 1.7% atrophic, 4.4% ASCUS, 1.5% ASC-H, 0.7% LSIL, 1.4% HSIL and 0.4% cases of squamous cell carcinoma. Although 0.4% is a small fraction, PAP smear is a cost effective, non-invasive screening test for cervical lesions.
Conclusion: Cervical cytology by Pap smear is an important tool for early detection of premalignant and malignant lesions of cervix. Regular Pap smear screening should be conducted in vulnerable age group.