Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy of the diagnostic Pap test (DPT) on three slides and punch biopsy and endocervical curettage (PB/ECC) compared with the final biopsy material in the detection of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL).
Materials and methods: Patients treated with conization after previous DPT and PB/ECC were analyzed. The findings of the DPT and PB/ECC as well as of the endocervical brush cytology and ECC were compared with the final conus histology.
Results: 150 patients were analyzed, and final histology verified 145 cases of HSIL and 3 cancers. The percentage of confirmed HSIL cytology was 97%, while for PB/ECC it was 79% with 30/145 false negative results. The correlation between Pap test and PB/ECC showed that the diagnostic accuracy of DPT is significantly higher (p < 0.0001). Endocervical brush cytology confirmed HSIL+ in the endocervical canal in 83% and ECC in 35% of cases (p < 0.0001).
Conclusion: The DPT on three slides enables better detection of HSIL compared to PB/ECC, particularly for lesions localized in the endocervical canal sampled with a cytobrush. A high quality DPT could represent a surrogate for PB/ECC and open the possibility of direct access to therapeutic procedure.
Keywords: HSIL; diagnostic Pap test; endocervical curettage; final conus histology; punch biopsy.