Exfoliation of Endometrial Cells on Cervicovaginal Smears

Kang, Miseon; Yoon, Hye Kyoung

Abstract

The significance of endometrial cells on cervicovaginal smears is underestimated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the detection rate of endometrial cells on cervicovaginal smears. The materials consisted of two groups. Group I was 701 cervicovaginal smears from patients with no gynecological problems. Group II was 208 cervicovaginal smears from patients with abnormal uterine bleeding followed by endometrial curettage; 31 cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma(CA), 19 cases of endometrial hyperplasia(HP), 83 cases of dysfunctional uterine bleeding(DUB), and 75 cases of normal endometrium. Cervicovaginal smears were reviewed according to the criteria of The Bethesda System. Endometrial cells were identified in 15 of 701 cases(2.1%) in group I and 64 of 208 cases(30.8%) in group II. Among group II, detection rate of endometrial cells was the highest in CA (51.6%) compared to HP(26.3%), DUB(41.0%), and normal endometrium(12.0%) ( p<0.05). Cytologic atypia of endometrial cells was not found in group I, but was more frequently identified in CA(87.5%) than in HP(10.5%) or DUB(14.7%) ( p<0.05). Exfoliation of endometrial cells might be related to abnormal endometrial lesion, and reporting of endometrial cells in the cervicovaginal smear may increase a chance to detect endometrial lesions especially in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding.