What is cervical cytology?

Cervical cytology examination is of concern to many people, mainly because everyone is concerned about the health of women's uterus. We know that many female friends’ physical health is often troubled by various problems, so necessary uterine examinations are something we need to be aware of. So what exactly is cervical cytology examination? Let's see how authoritative experts answer this question.

Brief description of cervical cytology examination:

1) Cytological examination after Pap staining: Use a special, sterilized scraper to gently scrape the junction of the external cervical os and the endocervical canal for one circle to collect the exfoliated cervical cells. Smear the scraped material on a special glass slide and immediately put it in the fixative. The fixed slide is stained with a special dye (i.e., Pap staining) and the cell morphology is observed under a microscope to see if there are abnormal cells or cancer cells. The Papanicolaou staining test of cervical smear cytology is an important means of early detection of cervical cancer. It has been widely promoted and used because it is simple, easy to perform, painless for the examinee, and the fee is moderate. The results of cervical cytology examination can be divided into Pap I~V grades, which represent the following meanings:

Pap test grade I: normal.

Pap Ⅱa: Considered as normal, but requires regular review.

Pap smear grade IIb: indicates inflammation. If suspicious nuclear heteroplasmic cells are seen, the cervical scraping or colposcopy should be repeated in the near future. If accompanied by cervicitis, vaginitis, etc., active treatment should be given and a repeat examination must be performed after 3 months.

Pap test grade III: indicates suspected cancer. Go to the hospital's gynecology department for in-depth examination, diagnosis and treatment in time.

Pap test grade IV: highly suspicious of cancer, go to the hospital in time

Comprehensive gynecological examination, diagnosis and treatment.

Pap smear level V is a confirmed diagnosis of cancer; go to the hospital's gynecology department for standardized diagnosis and treatment in time.

2) Liquid-based thin-layer cytology: also known as ultra-thin cervical smear test (TCT). This is a new technology for cervical cytology examination developed in recent years. First, prepare disposable pipettes and cervical smear samplers, i.e. cervical brushes, for taking specimens. Gently brush the cervical brush around the junction of the external os of the cervix and the endocervical canal to collect the exfoliated cells of the cervix. Then put the cervical smear sampler into a test tube containing a special solution and shake it gently to try to elute the cell specimen on the sampler into the solution. Put the specimen test tube into a centrifuge and after centrifugation and other treatments, take a drop of the cell suspension on a glass slide and observe the cell morphology under a microscope. Because the cells are precipitated in the ultra-thin cervical smear, on the one hand, the cells are evenly distributed on the slide and easy to identify. On the other hand, it eliminates the impact caused by cell dilution, which greatly increases the chance of detecting abnormal cells and improves the detection rate of abnormal cells.

However, since liquid-based thin-layer cytology requires the purchase of supporting instruments and the cost of consumable materials (including sample collectors, reagents, etc.) is high, it has not yet been widely used in health examinations.

What is cervical cytology examination? Through the above content, we have learned some information about the physical health of female friends. We also want relevant answers to this question. In life, we are all very concerned about women's physical health, so we must take care of women's bodies in time. Finally, I hope all female friends can live a healthy and happy life.