Smear on cytology is especially important to regularly give to women who have several sexual partners, have begun to have sex life before 18 years, have weakened immunity.
Technique for taking a smear
There is some preparation for smear fetching, which allows to get reliable results. Namely, the smear for the study is taken no earlier than on the fifth day of the menstrual cycle. Also no less than a day you need to exclude sexual intimacy, the introduction of drugs in the vagina, syringing. Do not urinate less than 2 hours before the visit to the doctor.
Cytological smear is taken with a special trowel with a curved surface. Cells for analysis should be taken from the junction of the flat and cylindrical epithelium (transformation zone), and then distributed on a slide. The zone of transformation usually coincides with the area of the external throat, but it can vary depending on age and hormonal balance. This site is still called the transition epithelium. The correct selection of the transitional epithelium in the smear is important because the malignant process begins with the lower layers of the cervical epithelium and then progresses to the surface, upwards. If only the surface layer gets into the smear, then the diagnosis will be correct only at the last stage of the cancer disease.
Study
The cervix and vagina lining the tissue, which is called a flat epithelium. This tissue performs a protective function. Normally, in a healthy woman, the epithelium in the smear should show up. If it is not present or is present in a small amount, then this may indicate a lack of estrogens or atrophy of epithelial cells.
The flat epithelium in the smear should be represented by such cell types: cells of the surface layer, cells of the intermediate layer, and cells of the basal-parabasal layer. The composition of cells varies depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle. In women of reproductive age, the flat epithelium is constantly reconstructed and completely replaced by a new population of cells every 4-5 days.
Smear results
The norm of cells of the flat epithelium in the smear in women is from 3 to 15 units in the field of vision. If there is a lot of epithelium in the smear, this may indicate an acute inflammation or a recently transferred infectious process (inflammation is characterized by active tissue renewal).
The finding of atypical cells (altered) should not be normal. This may indicate a varying degree of dysplasia (depending on the damage to the tissue), and a large number indicates a cancer.
The process of disrupting the keratinization of the flat epithelium in the smear during the cytological study of the cervix is determined by the presence of clusters of the denuclearized cells of the tissue of the flat epithelium.
Cages of a cylindrical epithelium in a smear within the limits of norm should be located in small groups, in the form of honeycomb structures or in the form of strips. Also, there may be goblet cells in which the cytoplasm is dilated with mucus. Sometimes granules of secret are found in these cells.
Ectopia is a physiological phenomenon in the cervix of the uterus, in which a displacement of the surface cylindrical epithelium occurs, replacing it with a flat epithelium.