| Popis: |
1. Analysis has been made of 3,500 vaginal cytologic studies and of the clinical and/or tissue follow-up of these cases. Eighty-five cases of carcinoma of the uterus, cervix, vagina, or vulva were discovered. 2. In eighteen cases of adenocarcinoma there were thirteen positive smears and five negative, yielding a false negative error of 27.8 per cent. In addition, six smears were mistakenly called adenocarcinoma for a false positive error of 31.6 per cent. In sixty-seven cases of squamous carcinoma, there were four false negative smears, giving a false negative error of 5.9 per cent, and there were eleven false positive smears with an error of 14.9 per cent. 3. In all, nine smears were erroneously called negative for a total negative error of 10.6 per cent. On the other hand, seventeen smears called positive were proved incorrect for a total false positive error of 18.4 per cent. The combined error for the entire series is thus twenty-six out of 3,500 cases, or 0.74 per cent. 4. An attempt has been made to show that the statistical picture presenting the results of a controlled study of vaginal smears often falls far short of representing the true value of the technique to the clinician and the patient. |
