1. ASCCP Patient Management Guidelines: Pap Test Specimen Adequacy and Quality Indicators
- Author
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Teresa M. Darragh, Jeffrey Waldman, Michael R. Henry, J. Thomas Cox, George G. Birdsong, Henry W. Buck, Vivien Hanson, R. Marshall Austin, Diane D. Davey, and Paul Elgert
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Steering committee ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Papanicolaou stain ,Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ,Specimen Handling ,medicine ,Humans ,Mass Screening ,Quality (business) ,Pap test ,Quality Indicators, Health Care ,media_common ,Vaginal Smears ,Gynecology ,Colposcopy ,Cervical pathology ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Task force ,business.industry ,Obstetrics and Gynecology ,General Medicine ,female genital diseases and pregnancy complications ,Test (assessment) ,Patient management ,Expert opinion ,Family medicine ,Female ,Transformation zone ,business ,Papanicolaou Test - Abstract
OBJECTIVES To provide management guidelines according to Pap test specimen adequacy based on literature review and expert opinion. METHODS A task force named by the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology conducted a literature review and discussed appropriate management. The steering committee of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology and other experts reviewed the guidelines. RESULTS The guidelines recommend a repeat Pap test in 12 months for most women who are undergoing routine annual/biennial screening if the current Pap test is negative but either lacks an endocervical/transformation zone component or is partially obscured. Indications for considering an earlier repeat are also provided. The preferred management for unsatisfactory Pap tests is a repeat Pap test within a short interval of 2 to 4 months. CONCLUSIONS The management guidelines will help promote optimal and uniform follow-up of women's Pap tests, according to Pap test specimen adequacy.
- Published
- 2002
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