Consistency of a double PAPNET scan of cervical smears.

Objective: To determine the reproducibility and accuracy of the PAPNET system in finding and presenting abnormal and atypical cells.

Study Design: To assess the potential variation of a double PAPNET scan on the same cervical smear, 516 cervical smears from women with abnormal histologic diagnoses were scanned twice via PAPNET and reviewed by two independent examiners in a double-blind trial.

Results: The false negative rate of 5.7% in conventional screening was reduced to 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively, by PAPNET testing. The resulting concurrence of the first and the second PAPNET reviews was 99.2%, indicating the accuracy, sensitivity and consistency of this supplemental test.

Conclusion: The results obtained demonstrate the reproducibility and accuracy of the system in finding and presenting abnormal and atypical cells.