HISTOPATHOLOGIC CORRELATION OF FALSE-POSI TIVE CYTOLOGIC FINDINGS IN THE CERVIX

Between 1984 and 1992, we reinvestigated 170 cases of cervical smears obtained in conization or hysterectomy which had produced false positi ve cytologic findings. We looked for morphological changes that could explain the cytologic findings. Such changes were found in half of the cases. These cases included 54 (63.6%) specimens with marked cellular polymorphism as a result of inflammation, tissue regeneration, or atr ophy. In 51.9% of the cases showed histologic signs of possible HPV in fection. The initial findings required reclassification in 12.9% of th e cases, and in fifteen cases (17.6%) the biopsy matched the cytologic findings without being validated by the final findings. We observed h istologic phenomena corresponding to the cytologic findings in 30.8% o f the cases in group IIID (n=26) using Papanicolaou's classification s ystem. In groups IV a (n=72), IV b (n=44), and V (n=28), we found a hi stologic explanation in 54.2%, 47.7%, and 60.7% of the cases, respecti vely. In most cases we observed polymorphic cellular changes primarily associated with HPV.