Clinicopathologic significance of Papanicolaou smear study of postmenopausal women in a rural tertiary care center

Background: Cervical cancer is a preventable disease in the vast majority of women. Papanicolaou (Pap) smear is still the most effective screening tool available for preventing cervical cancer. Therefore, it is important to investigate the significance of screening in older women. Objective: To study the distribution of cervical cancer among postmenopausal women and to determine the significance of cervical cancer screening in symptomatic and asymptomatic postmenopausal women. Materials and Methods: A total of 590 Pap smears were obtained from postmenopausal women between September 2012 and March 2013. Prefixed conventional cervical smears were stained with Pap stain. The cytology results were reported using the Bethesda system terminology. Results: Among the 590 postmenopausal women studied, 38.9% of asymptomatic postmenopausal women had clinically significant lesion whereas only 33.1% of symptomatic women had clinically significant lesion. There was low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion at percentage of 17.5. Asymptomatic and symptomatic were 11.5% and 6.5%, respectively. High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion was 4.5%. Asymptomatic and symptomatic were 7.5% and 2.85%, respectively. Atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance were seen in 8.85%. Asymptomatic and symptomatic were 4.25% and 4.6% respectively. Atypical glandular cells of undetermined significance were 1.7%. Only 3.2% of significant lesion was squamous cell carcinoma, and all were symptomatic. Conclusion: Postmenopausal women especially from the rural area and low socioeconomic strata suffered disproportionately from precancerous and cancerous lesions of the cervix. To reduce this burden, it′s mandatory to motivate and screen asymptomatic older women.