Evaluation of pre-malignant cervical lesions in females presenting with abnormal pelvic complaints.

Objective: To evaluate premalignant cervical lesions by using Papanicolaou smears in females presenting with abnormal pelvic complaints.

Methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from June to November 2013 at the Department of Histopathology, Mayo Hospital, Lahore, and comprised female patients aged 25-70 years presenting with abnormal pelvic complaints with no cause in the uterus checked through ultrasonography who were undergoing cervical Papanicolaou smear. The smears were spray-fixed and placed in 95% reagent alcohol and was then stained with haematoxylin and eosin stain. The cytological examination was carried out under light microscope. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis.

Results: There were 210 women with a mean age of 39.51±8.32 years. Vaginal discharge was present in 89(42.4%) women; postcoital bleeding in 12(5.7%), and intermenstrual bleeding was present in 21(10%) women. Dyspareunia was present in 33(15.7%) women, and pelvic pain in 60(28.6%). Overall, premalignant cervical cancer was noted in 17(8.1%) patients. Atypical squamous cells of unknown significance was present in 5(2.4%) women, low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) in 8(3.8%), and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion in 4(1.9%) patients of cervical cancer.

Conclusions: The frequency of premalignant cervical lesions in symptomatic patients was high enough to highlight the importance of early detection of cervical cancer.