title: Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions: cytologic predictors of biopsy confirmation.
abstract: One hundred and seven smears demonstrating a low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) were analyzed for features predicting subsequent biopsy confirmation. Twelve (29%) of 41 smears showing few LSIL cells were biopsy confirmed compared to 33 (60%) of 55 containing an intermediate number of LSIL cells and 9 (82%) of 11 displaying many LSIL cells (P < 0.002). Thirty-seven (47%) of 78 smears showing mainly condylomatous atypia (CA), 7 (54%) of 13 revealing predominantly cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 1 (CIN 1), and 10 (63%) of 16 displaying both CA and CIN 1 were histologically confirmed (N.S.). Biopsy confirmation was obtained in 35 (65%) of 54 women whose repeat smears obtained at colposcopy demonstrated SIL compared to four (15%) of 26 patients whose repeat smears were normal or contained atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (P < 0.001). These results suggest that the number of diagnostic cells in an LSIL smear predicts biopsy confirmation and affirm the validity of combining CA and CIN 1 under the category of LSIL in the Bethesda System.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21287.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Soudi
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Sherman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D003218:Condylomata Acuminata / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*