Should Liquid-Based Cytology (LBC) be Preferred than Conventional Pap Smear (CPS): A Comparative Analysis.

Objectives: To study the cytomorphological differences of both techniques and to study the relative advantages and limitations of both techniques.

Materials: A total of five hundred cases were collected. The conventional Pap smears (CPS) were prepared with cytobrush, and the same brush head was suspended in LBC vial and processed by SurePath.

Results: Of the 500 cases studied, the age ranged from 21 to 80 years with a mean of 40.02. The number of satisfactory smears in CPS and LBC was 490 and 496 cases, respectively. In conventional method, 417 cases (83.4%) and LBC 430 cases (86.0%) were inflammatory smears. The number of LSIL was 18 in conventional method and 15 in LBC. HSIL was 11 in CPS and 10 in LBC, and 8 squamous cell carcinoma cases were seen in LBC. Histopathological correlation was observed in 19 cases of which LBC showed sensitivity and specificity of 100%.

Conclusion: LBC may be considered better than conventional Pap smear due to better adequacy, clarity of background, detection of infections and increased sensitivity and specificity in detecting LSIL and HSIL.