WHICH CERVICAL SAMPLER - A COMPARISON OF 4 METHODS

Four cytology sampling methods were compared in 1063 patients referred for colposcopy with a recent abnormal smear. A dyskaryotic smear of a ny grade was considered a positive result, though comparisons were lim ited to cases with a subsequent biopsy confirming CINII or III. There were no differences between the abilities of any of the four methods t o detect higher grades of CIN (chi2(3)=4.603, P>0.20). The presence or absence of endocervical cells in a smear was not significantly associ ated with any variation in success rate (chi2(1) =0.959, P>0.30). The joint analysis of the four methods and the presence/absence of endocer vical cells also showed no significant effects (chi2(7)=12.768, 0.1>P> 0.05). In the latter analysis the trend towards a conventional level o f significance was accounted for by the Aylesbury spatula giving a rel atively high success rate when endocervical cells were present. The su ggestion of advantage for the Aylesbury spatula merits further investi gation.