A study of the age profile, diagnosis, type of sample, adequacy of sample and the results of patients undergoing cervical cytology at a tertiary care center

Background: Carcinoma of cervix is the most common genital malignancy in India. It is an indolent cancer which can be picked up at an early stage using screening methods such as Papanicoloau smear and liquid based cytology. The present study was undertaken to analyze the age distribution, diagnosis, type of sample, adequacy of sample and results of patients undergoing cervical cytology screening.Methods: The study was conducted using 300 random cytology reports from the pathology department of a tertiary care center in the period of 5 months from January 2019 to May 2019. Patient’s data was collected and analyzed.Results: The percentage of patients in each age group undergoing cervical cytology was: 21-30 years (7.4%), 31-40 years (14.6%), 41-50 years (36%), 51-60 years (30.7%), 61-70 years (10.7%) and 71-80 years (0.6%). The most common diagnosis/indication for doing cervical cytology is screening (41.6%), followed by abnormal uterine bleeding (24%). 95% of samples sent for cytology were liquid based cytology. Among the 300 samples sent to the pathology department for cervical cytology, 290 were adequate for opinion (97%) and 10 were inadequate for opinion (3%). The results are as follows: negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (68%), inflammatory smear (8%), ASCUS (6%), ASC-H (3%), LSIL (9%), HSIL (6%).Conclusions: Most samples belonged to the age group of 41-50 years. Common indication being screening. Most samples were adequate for opinion. Most commonly, they were reported as negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy.