Cytopathological pattern of cervical pap smears at tertiary care hospital in year 2023

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. It can be preventable and diagnosed early with adequate and repetitive cytological screening by pap test. The conventional cervical cytological screening is the most common technique used throughout the world. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of cervical cytological pattern in females by using conventional Papanicolaou (Pap) smears for the screening of inflammatory, premalignant and malignant lesions of the cervix. Materials & Methods: A one year retrospective descriptive study was conducted in Department of Pathology of BJ Medical College and civil hospital, Ahmedabad to evaluate all the pap smears reported during January 2023 to December 2023. Smears were assessed according to the Bethesda system for reporting cervical cytology third edition. A total of 1108 cases were analyzed. Prevalence of epithelial abnormalities was calculated in percentages. Results: A total 1108 patients were screened. Most women were in the age range of 30-50 years and multiparous. There were 757(68.32%) normal Pap smears, with 302 (27.26%) abnormal pap smear and 49 (4.42%) unsatisfactory or inadequate samples. Total 130 (11.73%) cases showed epithelial cell abnormalities. Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) was the most commonly found (5.78%) epithelial cell abnormality. Conclusion: This study emphasized the importance of Pap smears screening for early detection of premalignant and malignant lesions of cervix. Incidence of invasive cervical malignancy can be prevented if Pap screening program is effectively implemented in target population.