QUESTION: The results of a recent pap smear were read as "slightly abnormal." Now my physician is advising "follow up tests".
What does this involve? What could this mean?
ANSWER: The pap test or smear is used most commonly to detect cancer of the uterus and cervix.
The test can reveal abnormalities at a stage at which such changes produce no visible symptoms and have done no damage.
Most often the pap test catches uterine or cervical cancer at such an early stage that the problem can be completely cured.
The next step for your doctor to take is to perform a colposcopy an examination with an instrument that is inserted into the vagina and permits visual examination of the neck of the womb and the upper part of the vagina.
The colposcope has a magnification lens and can detect early malignant changes. If your doctor sees any problem areas, he or she then knows which areas a biopsy sample should be taken from.
If the biopsy turns out to have precancerous tissue, or even malignancies, one relatively simple, painless and inexpensive treatment option is cryotherapy.
This involves the destruction of the abnormal tissue with the application of extreme cold.
About 20 to 25% of patients with an abnormal pap smear require a different procedure because of possible invasive cancer.
The procedure is called cervical conization, which is the surgical removal of a cone of tissue. Another form of treatment is Carbon Dioxide Laser Therapy.
In this method, a laser vaporizes the altered cervical tissue.
Laser therapy may provide a better cure rate than cryotherapy, but it is less widely available, more expensive, and requires anesthesia. Hysterectomy is very rarely indicated, even with extensive changes of the cervix.
In the early stages, relatively simple techniques can accomplish lasting cures, so stay the course.
The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace the counsel and advice of your personal physician.
Promptly consulting your doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical problem.
