title: Comparing Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid to Cytology in Detection of Precancerous Lesions of the Cervix in HIV-Infected Cambodian Women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare Papanicolaou (Pap) smear readings to visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) findings among HIV-infected women in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 304 HIV-infected women presenting to the women's clinic at the Community Resource Center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, were screened for cervical cancer by both Pap smear and VIA. The results of the 2 tests were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete data were available on 293 women. In all, 55 (19%) women screened positive on VIA; 25 (8.5%) women screened positive by Pap. Visual inspection with acetic acid detected 18 of the 25 patients with abnormal cytology and was normal in 7 women with abnormal cytology. A total of 37 (67%) women with positive VIA were negative by cytology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows a reasonable correlation between VIA and Pap smear, with VIA detecting more abnormalities than cytology. In the absence of Pap smear availability, VIA may be a reasonable cervical cancer screening method for HIV-infected women in Cambodia.
authors: 1 Sihanouk Hospital Center of HOPE, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
authors: Kruy
authors: K
authors: Lim
authors: Autumn
authors: A
authors: Davidson
authors: Joseph
authors: J
authors: Harwell
authors: Sovannara
authors: S
authors: Thay
authors: Lori A
authors: LA
authors: Boardman
authors: Edward
authors: E
authors: Feller
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Cu-Uvin
mesh_terms: D019342:Acetic Acid; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms; D014626:Vaginal Smears
chemical_list: D019342:Acetic Acid