Intended for healthcare professionals

Cross sectional study of conventional cervical smear, monolayer cytology, and human papillomavirus DNA testing for cervical cancer screening

Joël Coste, Béatrix Cochand-Priollet, Patricia de Cremoux, Catherine Le Galès, Cartier Isabelle, Molinié Vincent, Sylvain Labbé, Marie-Cécile Vacher-Lavenu, Philippe Vielh
Table 2

Specimen adequacy and causes of inadequacy and limitation by method (clinical reading)*

Conventional cervical smear (n=2582)*Monolayer (n=2580)
Satisfactory for evaluation2343 (91%)2241 (87%)
Satisfactory for evaluation but limited by§:236328
Cytolysis619
Obscuring blood3625
Obscuring inflammation7944
Endocervical component absent75235
Scant squamous epithelial cells34
Air drying artefacts320
Staining problem51
Unsatisfactory for evaluation:311
Cytolysis00
Obscuring blood05
Obscuring inflammation01
Endocervical component absent00
Scant squamous epithelial cells15
Air drying artefacts20
Staining problem00
  • * Data missing data for three.

  • †Data missing for five.

  • ‡ P<0.0001 for difference between groups (MacNemar 2 test).

  • §Causes of limited evaluation were not mutually exclusive.