Cervical cytological screening results of 8,495 cases in Turkey--common inflammation but infrequent epithelial cell abnormalities?

Background: Cervical cancer is the ninth most common cancer among females in Turkey. Cervical smear is a routine screening test used for the detection of cervical abnormalities and also it detects certain infections of the cervix.

Objective: To analyze cervical smear results of our clinic in order to determine most frequent pathology of the women in North Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey.

Materials And Methods: In a retrospective study design, 8,495 cervical cytology cases diagnosed at the Pathology Department of the Regional Education and Research Hospital in Erzurum over the last one and half years extending from August 2012 to December 2013 were investigated.

Results: The most common diagnosis was found to be inflammation, 65.5 % (5,566 out of 8,495), and the least was squamous epithelial abnormalities 0.2% (13 out of 8,495). There was some variation among the three pathologists regarding diagnosis but findings for the latter.

Conclusions: Regular cervical smear tests are one of the most important strategies in early diagnosis of cervical cancer but there are conflicting data regarding the prevalence of epithelial cell abnormalities in Turkey, and the reasons of this should be investigated.