Marwa Moawia Awad
University of Khartoum, Sudan
Title: Prevalence of abnormal Pap smears in Sudan implications for screening
Biography
Biography: Marwa Moawia Awad
Abstract
Background: The Pap test is considered to be the most cost-effective cancer reduction program. Cervical cancer is a common health problem in Sudan and account for about 17% of all cancers in Sudanese women and is the second cause of death after breast cancer. Objective: To investigate the prevalence of abnormal Papanicolaou smear collected from cytology laboratory archive. These samples have been taken from the women who attended the gynecological clinics and on opportunistic screening base in Khartoum state. We also compared our data with other related studies from developing countries. Material & Methods: This descriptive study aimed to assess the cytological findings in cervical smears. Samples were collected from 1393 women. The smears were stained with conventional Papanicolaou stain and screened by senior cytologist and abnormal cases reviewed by consultant cytopathologist. Epithelial cell abnormalities included atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC US) and above. The 2001 Bethesda System was adopted to classify the epithelial abnormalities. Our results were compared to other similar studies from developing countries. Results: Out of the 1393 cases 17 (1.2%) were reported as unsatisfactory, 34 (3.1%) as epithelial cell abnormalities and 1333 (95.7%) of the Pap smear were found to be negative for intraepithelial lesion or malignancy (NILM). The epithelial cell abnormalities (N=34) included atypical squamous cell of undermined significance (ASC-US) in 44.2% of cases, L-SIL in 23.3%, H-SIL in 20.9%, atypical glandular cells in 2.3% and squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma in 4.6% of cases. Conclusion: In this study the prevalence of abnormal Pap smear was (3.1%). Pap smear in our study is relatively comparable to other countries.