CONVENTIONAL CERVICAL CYTOLOGIC SMEARS VS THINPREP SMEARS - A PAIRED-COMPARISON STUDY ON CERVICAL CYTOLOGY

OBJECTIVE: To compare the time required for evaluation, the diagnostic accuracy and quality of conventional glass slide smears vs. ThinPrep smears in 365 women. STUDY DESIGN: Both smears were obtained at the sa me time using the Accellon Combi cervical biosampler. Histology served as the diagnostic ''gold standard.''RESULTS: The average screening ti me was 1 minute, 23 seconds, shorter per smear with the ThinPrep metho d as compared to the conventional glass slide (P <.001). Direct diagno stic agreement between the two smear methods was obtained in 311 of 36 4 evaluable smears (85.4%, kappa =.63). Despite the relatively high ra te of ''adequate but limited by absence of transformation zone compone nts'' observed with the ThinPrep method, the sensitivity and specifici ty of the ThinPrep method was slightly greater but not statistically s ignificantly differ ent than the conventional technique, irrespective of the disease categories (low and high grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and invasive cancer). CONCLUSION: The shorter time required to screen ThinPrep smears compared to conventional smears in this study was not sufficiently important to offset the current unit price for pr eparing ThinPrep smears.