An institution-based cervical PAP smear study, correlation with clinical findings & histopathology in the Konkan region of Maharashtra state, India

Background: Cervical carcinoma is a common cause of death in India. It is presented by spectrum of precancerous lesions, called cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN). Cervical cytological screening is designed to detect over 90% of cytological abnormalities. It has been established that cervical cancers can be diagnosed at the pre-invasive stage with adequate, repetitive cytological screening. Keeping in view of the importance of cervical PAP abnormalities & by classifying them by Bethesda terminology; correlation with clinical findings & histopathological findings was done. Methods: All cervical Pap smears reported in Department of Pathology from 1st August 2015 to 31st July 2016, were prospectively studied and classified according to revised Bethesda terminology, 2014. Also cytoradiological and clinico-cytological, cytohistological correlation was studied. Results: Due to increasing awareness among masses inculcated by social workers, most of the patients for PAP smear cytology came for routine screening to rule out cervical lesions followed by clinical finding of per-vaginal discharge. The 350 screened patients were in the third and fourth decades of life. 99/350 cases were subjected to USG study, with maximum number of cases (34 cases) showing normal study, followed by cases with ovarian cysts and fatty liver disease. Negative for intra-epithelial lesion (NILM) without any denotable organism was the pre-dominant cytological finding of PAP smear studyfollowed by cases of NILM with bacterial vaginosis (30 cases) with two malignancies. Intra-epithelial lesions (IELs) were noted in 16.86%. ASCUS comprised 12.29%, ASC-H comprised 1.14%, L-SIL comprised 1.71%, HSIL comprised 1.43%, Atrophic cervical smears comprised 5.14%, Squamous cell carcinoma comprised 0.29% cases. ASC/LSIL ratio was 7.8 and inadequacy rate for PAP smear study was 7.43%. Cytologyhistopathology correlation was possible in 62 cases. Conclusion: Classification of cervical PAP smear cytology based on Bethesda terminology revealed it is a useful cost effective, screening tool for cervical lesions. Correlation of PAP smear cytology with ‘gold standard' histological reports reveal excellent diagnostic parameters, implying the greater efficacy of cervical PAP smears.