Cytological and histological outcome following a borderline cervical smear

Abstract

A prospective cytological and histological study was conducted in 627 women with borderline nuclear abnormality to assess its clinical significance in an attempt to reach a sound policy of management. The incidence of dyskaryosis was 10.9% at a 6-month repeat smear after the first borderline smear. The detection of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) after two borderline smears increased to 21.15% on cytology and 40.75% on histology. Additionally, there were two cases of glandular intraepithelial neoplasia and one case of adenocarcinoma detected on histology after having borderline nuclear changes reported on cytology; 39.7% of these women with initial borderline cervical smear were under the age of 30 years. The high prevalence of borderline nuclear abnormality in younger women and a poor correlation between these abnormalities and severity of CIN suggest that repeat cytology is a less than optimal management for these women.