Pap smear

From Free net encyclopedia

A pap smear (also called smear test) is a medical screening test for early detection of cancer and other abnormalities in the female genital tract by sampling cells from the cervix with a swab. The cells are placed on a glass slide and checked for abnormalities in the laboratory. The test is simple and effective.

About 5% to 7% of pap smears produce abnormal results, such as dysplasia, a possibly pre-cancerous condition. Many of these abnormalities are not due to cervical cancer, but they are an indicator that increased vigilance is needed.

Depending on the guidelines of the screening programme in a given country, it is recommended that all sexually active women have an annual or biannual smear test to detect any cancer in its early stages. If results are abnormal, and depending on the nature of the abnormality, the test may need to be repeated in three to twelve months. If the abnormality requires closer scrutiny, the patient may be referred for a colposcopy.

In the United States, physicians who fail to diagnose cervical cancer from a pap smear have been convicted of negligent homicide. In 1988 and 1989, Karin Smith had received pap smears which were argued to have "unequivocally" shown that she had cancer; yet the lab had not made the diagnosis. She died on March 8 1995. Later, a physician and a laboratory technician were convicted of negligent homicide.

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History

The test was invented by Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou (1883-1962). He was a Greek who later immigrated to the US, and the father of cytopathology. "Pap" is an abbreviation for Papanicolaou.

Based on his thirty years of work at New York Hospital and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Papanikolaou published a large series of cases in Diagnosis of uterine cancer by the vaginal smear (Papanicolaou & Traut, 1943). The sampling technique has hardly changed ever since.

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