The Pap test (also called a Pap smear or cervical cytology) collects cervical cells so they can be checked for changes caused by HPV that may—if left untreated—turn into cervical cancer.
It can find precancerous cells and cervical cancer cells..
Cytology is the exam of a single cell type, as often found in fluid specimens.
It's mainly used to diagnose or screen for cancer.
It's also used to screen for fetal abnormalities, for pap smears, to diagnose infectious organisms, and in other screening and diagnostic areas..
There is no code combination in either the primary HPV or HPV triage pathway to accommodate reporting tests which are hrHPV negative with inadequate cytology
In these circumstances, the inadequate cytology result must be disregarded for the purposes of recall
For the liquid-based cytology systems used in the UK, a minimum acceptable cell count of 15,000 for SurePath™ and 5,000 for ThinPrep™ would achieve the best balance between maintaining low levels of inadequate slides and not compromising the chances of detecting abnormalities
Perform cell counting if the adequacy of the preparation is in doubt
The British Association of Cytology (BAC) Code of Practice outlines the principles of IT systems used in cervical cytology laboratories
Effective and safe IT systems must be in place within the laboratory, and between the laboratory and other laboratories and service users
