Spectrum of Cervical Lesion in Papanicolaou Smears Examination in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Introduction: Carcinoma of cervix is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity among women worldwide. Early detection and timely treatment of premalignant lesion can prevent cancer of cervix. Regular screening by PAP smear is a simple, cost effective and efficient method to prevent cervical cancers. Material and methods: This prospective study was done from 1st January 2021 to 26th august 2021 includes 1000 patients whose Pap smear examination was done in our tertiary care hospital for various gynecological problems. Wet fixed smear prepared by gynecologist were sent to cytology laboratory for staining and reporting. Reporting was done by cytopathologists as per The Bethesda System (TBS). Results: Among 1000 cases 286 were unsatisfactory (28.6% ) , 231 (23.1%) were normal cases(NILM), abnormal smears ( NILM with severe inflammation (3+, 4+), trichomonasvaginalis, candida, atrophy) were 459 (45.9%), 24 (2.4%) were cases with epithelial cell abnormalities. ASCUS was the most commonly found epithelial cell abnormality (41.6%) out of 24 cases. Conclusion: Incidence of cervical lesions ranging from infective pathology to preneoplastic/neoplastic pathology can be lowered with effective implementation of cervical Pap screening program. However, skilled staff, proper sampling, adequate resources and use of latest techniques (LBC) can help improve the sensitivity of cervical Pap smear screening.