Comparison of the Cytobrush plus plastic spatula with the Cervex Brush for obtaining endocervical cells.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the effectiveness of the Cytobrush plus plastic spatula with that of the Cervex Brush for obtaining acceptable yields of endocervical cells in Papanicolaou smears.


METHODS
We collected 309 smears over a 6-month period, 132 with the Cytobrush plus spatula and 177 with the Cervex Brush. About one-third of the patients in each group were pregnant. Numbers of endocervical cells in the smears were described as none, few, moderate, or many.


RESULTS
Moderate or large numbers of endocervical cells were collected from 60.5% of the women in the Cervex Brush group and 65.2% of those in the Cytobrush-spatula group. The percentages were not statistically different.


CONCLUSIONS
The Cytobrush plus spatula and the Cervex Brush sampling methods were equally effective in obtaining endocervical cells in routine Papanicolaou smears.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, St. John's Mercy Medical Center, St. Louis, Missouri.
J M
JM
Cannon
J G
JG
Blythe
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000295:instrumentation*