PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Cline, Matthew K.
AU  - Baxley, Elizabeth G.
AU  - Montgomery, Rebecca P.
TI  - Papanicolaou Smear Discrepancy: Resolution By Review
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.7.1.9
DP  - 1994 Jan 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Practice
PG  - 9--13
VI  - 7
IP  - 1
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/7/1/9.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/7/1/9.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med1994 Jan 01; 7
AB  - Background: Discrepancy between Papanicolaou smears and colposcopically directed biopsies often creates a treatment dilemma, especially when the cytologic specimen suggests a higher grade lesion than the histologic specimen. A method of side-by-side review using the Bethesda System was evaluated as a means of resolving this discrepancy between cytologic and histologic specimens. Methods: By means of a retrospective chart review, we selected 150 patients undergoing colposcopic evaluation for abnormal cytologic findings. Thirty-eight patients had higher grade lesions on cytologic examination than on histologic examination. Twenty-four of these patients had both cytologic and histologic slides available, and these specimens were evaluated in a blinded review by a single pathologist using the Bethesda System of classification. Results: Reevaluation yielded resolution of discrepancy in 19 of 24 cases, a 79.2 percent resolution. Conclusion: Review of cytologic and histologic specimens by an experienced pathologist using the Bethesda System can resolve many of the cases in which the cervical lesion is considered to be of a higher grade by cytologic examination than by histologic examination.