Cytopathologic Diagnosis of ASC-US and ASC-H at the INCA Technological Integrated Service in Cytology

Abstract

Introduction: Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance are defined by the presence of more marked abnormalities than those assigned to reactive changes. Objective: To determine the frequency of ASC-US and ASC-H diagnoses, among all cytologies; the percentage of ASC-US and ASC-H reports among the cytology reports changed during the same period; the frequency of these reports in the Integrated Technology Service in Cytology -SITEC/ INCA; and its distribution by age group. Method: Study of prevalence, in which the frequency of ASC-US and ASC-H citopathologic reports were evaluated, in the SITEC/INCA database, between January 2007 and December 2010. Results: The prevalence of cytopathologic examinations with diagnosis of ASC-US was 2.5% and ASC-H was 0.2%. Out of all altered exams, the frequency of ASC-US diagnoses was 44.7% and ASC-H was 4.4%. In the analysis of prevalence by age, the highest percentage of ASC-US was 3.3% in the group between 15-19 years old, the lowest percentage of ASC-US was 1.6% in the group between 55-59 years old. The highest percentage of ASC-H was 0.2% in the group above 60 years old and the lowest percentage of ASC-H was 0.1% in the group between 15-19 years old. Conclusion: The frequency for each age category was within that expected for the type of report: ASC-US was more diagnosed in young groups and ASC-H was diagnosed with little variation in women of all age ranges. The prevalence of atypical squamous cells in SITEC/INCA did not exceed 5%.