[Evolution of atypical gynecological cervical smears in a captive population].
BACKGROUND
An atypical cervical smear may represent a wide variety of lesions, from banal diseases to invasive neoplastic lesions.


OBJECTIVE
To study the evolution of atypical cervical smears in a highly controlled women population.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of 117 women with atypical cervical smears, diagnosed between 1985 and 1994, was performed at the institutional hospital of a mining corporation in Chile.


RESULTS
Patients age ranged from 25 to 65 years. Six percent of atypical cervical smears were associated to Papillomavirus infection and 25% to unspecific infectious agents. In the second smear, during follow up, 22.2% of women had some degree of squamous intraepithelial lesion or signs of Papillomavirus infection. A cervical biopsy was performed to 69 women, confirming the presence of a squamous intraepithelial neoplasia or signs of Papillomavirus infection in 38.4% of them. Only one patient had microinvasion.


CONCLUSIONS
All patients with atypical gynecological cervical smears should be closely followed to ascertain the diagnosis.
Departamento de Anatomía Patológica, Hospital Clínico FUSAT, Rancagua, Chile.
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Escalona
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000473:pathology*; D002677:Chile; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D014626:Vaginal Smears