OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the liquid-based ThinPrep Papanicolaou test. DESIGN: Prospective comparison of the ThinPrep test with the conventional Papanicolaou test. SETTING: Cervical smear specimens sent to a private practice, Hong Kong. PATIENTS: A total of 16,541 ThinPrep test specimens and 7258 conventional Papanicolaou smears from Hong Kong women who had been screened for cervical cancer betwee...

OBJECTIVE Vaginal atrophy in menopause shows increased parabasal cells on cytology. This may be accompanied by abundant neutrophils. A shift in maturation index in the absence of significant inflammation is more accurately termed "atrophic pattern." This study aims to determine whether a diagnosis of "atrophic vaginitis" or atrophic pattern on Papanicolaou test is a reliable indicator of what i...

BACKGROUND Pelvic actinomycosis is uncommon and often presents as a complication of an intrauterine device (IUD). A diagnosis of actinomycosis can be made from the finding of sulfur granules within inflammatory exudate on histologic examination after surgery. However, it may be possible to diagnose actinomycosis before surgery by finding Actinomyces-like organisms on Papanicolaou smears. CASE...

OBJECTIVES This study sought to estimate rates of cervical cancer and Papanicolaou testing among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women in Manitoba, Canada. METHODS Data were derived through linking of administrative databases. RESULTS In comparison with non-Aboriginal women, Aboriginal women had 1.8 and 3.6 times the age-standardized incidence rates of in situ and invasive cervical cancer, re...

JNCI Vol. 101, Issue 23 | December 2, 2009 “All zoogles are boogles. You saw a boogle. Is it a zoogle?” Question in an SAT examination (Nassim Nicholas Taleb in “The Black Swan”) “Not necessarily” is the resounding answer to this thought experiment, in analogy to the central argument in the debate on the clinical utility of human papillomavirus (HPV) testing in cervical cancer screening. Virtua...