Womens's Health
THE ROLE OF PAP SMEAR SCREENING
What is a Pap smear?
The Pap smear is simply a scraping of the
cervix - the opening of the uterus. This specimen
will be obtained during your pelvic examination
by your health care professional. The cells that
are collected are examined for changes that may
indicate precancerous abnormalities and cervical
cancer, as well as benign conditions, such as
infections.
Why do I need one?
The Pap smear has been around for more
han 50 years as a screening procedure, and in
that time, it has reduced deaths from cervical
cancer by 70 percent. Regular pelvic exams that
include a Pap smear may lead to early detection
of cellular changes that could lead to cancer.
Early detection may allow your physician to use
less severe treatments, which may preserve
your ability to still bear children. If detected early
and treated promptly, most cervical cancers are
curable.
THE PROCESSING OF MY PAP SMEAR
Your health care professional has selected
Pathology Associates to process your Pap
smear. Our laboratory has been serving the
medical community for 50 years. We
meet all federal and State of Florida licensure
requirements and we are accredited by the
College of American Pathologists (CAP).
A unique identification system will be used to
track your specimen in our lab. Your Pap smear
will be stained with special dyes that assist in
detecting changes in cells. Your Pap slide will
then be examined with a microscope that
magnifies the cells. All slides are examined by a
specially trained technologist known as a
cytotechnologist, who locates questionable and
abnormal cells for review by a pathologist, a
physician specially trained in cytology.
If your last Pap smear was abnormal and
was screened at Pathology Associates, the
current Pap smear will be compared to the
previous case. Additionally, if your health care
professional elects to submit a biopsy at the
same time as the Pap smear, both specimens
are reviewed together by a pathologist.
Our extensive quality control and quality
assurance policies exceed state and national
requirements and reflect our commitment to
provide high quality service to our patients and
our clients.
WHAT DO THESE RESULTS MEAN
The Pap report that your health care professional
receives from Pathology Associates uses
the nationally accepted standard, the Bethesda
System. An important part of this system is the
evaluation of specimen adequacy. This indicates
whether the specimen has been collected from
the part of the cervix where most cervical cancers
arise.
Your Pap report may contain technical terms
that you are not familiar with. Some of these
terms include:
- Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined
Significance (ASCUS) - Cellular changes are
present which cannot be clearly diagnosed
as either benign changes or precancerous
changes.
- Low Grade Lesion and High Grade Lesion -Describes
the degree of abnormal changes
seen in the cells. This may include changes
associated with condyloma, which is caused
by a human papillomavirus (HPV).
Remember, it is very important for you to
discuss anything you don’t understand with your
health care professional.