Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Heller, Debra S
• Weiss, Gerson
• Bittman, Sara
• Goldsmith, Laura

Titel

Does a diagnosis of atrophic vaginitis on Papanicolaou test signify the presence of inflammation?

Ist Teil von

• Menopause (New York, N.Y.), 2015-08, Vol.22 (8), p.814-815

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Vaginal atrophy in menopause shows increased parabasal cells on cytology. This may be accompanied by abundant neutrophils. A shift in maturation index in the absence of significant inflammation is more accurately termed "atrophic pattern." This study aims to determine whether a diagnosis of "atrophic vaginitis" or atrophic pattern on Papanicolaou test is a reliable indicator of what is present on the slide. A retrospective review of Papanicolaou test slides from University Hospital Newark was performed. Cases that had been diagnosed as either atrophic vaginitis (n = 100) or atrophic pattern (n = 100) were selected. Exclusion criteria included any additional diagnosis of neoplasia. Slides were re-reviewed and scored based on abundance of neutrophils: 0 to 5, 6 to 10, or more than 10 neutrophils per high-power field (×40), with 10 fields per slide reviewed. Data were analyzed by χ analysis. Among 200 cases with atrophic vaginitis or atrophic pattern, the proportion of those diagnosed with atrophic vaginitis to those diagnosed with atrophic pattern increased across three neutrophil categories (P < 0.0001). A diagnosis of atrophic vaginitis on Papanicolaou test is reliably associated with increased numbers of neutrophils. A diagnosis of atrophic pattern is indicative of low numbers of neutrophils. As the Papanicolaou test diagnosis of atrophic vaginitis does not correlate with clinical symptoms, a single diagnostic term that does not suggest a disease process would more reliably communicate cytology findings to clinicians.