Diagnosis of "ASCUS" in women over age 50 is less likely to be associated with dysplasia

Many investigators have found that cervical dysplasia is common when follow -up data are obtained from patients with a diagnosis of atypical squamous c ells of undetermined significance (ASCUS). This study tests the hypothesis that ASCUS in older women is less likely to predict dysplasia than in young er women, and quantifies the difference. We constructed a retrospective cas e/control cohort from patients diagnosed with ASCUS by our service in 1997. Follow-up information was obtained on 150 patients over age 50 and a tempo rally matched control cohort under age 50. In women under 50, our control g roup, we found that 29.5% of patients had dysplasia on follow-up. This numb er is similar to that seen in many studies in the literature. In comparison , women over 50 showed only 12.8% of patients with any level of dysplasia. This difference is statistically significant by chi-square analysis, at P = 0.0077. A diagnosis of ASCUS in women over 50 yrs old is 2.3-fold less lik ely to be associated with dysplasia than that diagnosis in younger patients . (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.