Abstract

We examined the utility of cytologic rescreening tests in women who had positive test results for human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid but who were diagnosed as having benign conditions at cytologic testing. One hundred twenty-five Papanicolaou smears from women who were screened for human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid were sent routinely to a private laboratory for diagnoses. These slides were then reviewed independently by two pathologists who were blinded to the human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid results. The effects of cytologic rescreening in cases of both positive and negative human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid were assessed by calculating z scores. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia was diagnosed in 40% by pathologist A and in 20% by pathologist B of the human papillomavirus-positive subjects compared with none diagnosed by the private cytology laboratory (z = 3.09, p less than 0.005 and z = 1.98, p less than 0.05, respectively). No significant differences were found in the human papillomavirus-negative group. We conclude that cytologic rescreening in human papillomavirus deoxyribonucleic acid-positive women who were initially diagnosed as having benign cytologic results will yield a significant proportion of cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.

View details for Web of Science ID A1991FY35800015

View details for PubMedID 1649551