Medical analysis and research play a big role in the diagnosis of various diseases. Many diseases do not give any symptoms, and only a laboratory study of cells under a microscope can reveal an infection or the presence of pathological changes in tissues. That's why all women aged 19 to 65 years, it is necessary to show the gynecologist for analysis.
How is the cervical smear taken?
One of the simplest, but from this no less important gynecological analysis is a swab from the cervical canal. It is administered to every woman of reproductive age who has come to a preventive reception to a gynecologist, during a routine examination on the chair. The smear is a scraping from the cervical canal, which is then sent for cytology to the laboratory. The latter is performed, as a rule, by one of two methods: examine the biological material under a microscope or make a bacteriological culture. Cytology of the smear from the cervical can give an opportunity to judge the state of the microflora, and also helps to identify inflammatory processes and even oncological changes in the cervix.
Cytological smear from the cervical canal - it's absolutely not painful and not scary. The doctor simply gently scraped a special spatula, then transfers it to a clean slide. This process takes just a few seconds. Analysis is the basis for the prevention of many female diseases, so it is necessary to prepare for it: at least one day before going to the doctor, sexual acts, douching, use of vaginal suppositories, tablets, etc., are not recommended, otherwise the analysis will be uninformative. In addition, it is not possible to carry out a smear test from the cervical canal during menstruation.
Decoding of the smear from the cervical canal
In the table below you see the indicators by which the doctor deciphers this analysis. This is the presence or absence in the smear of leukocytes, gonococci, trichomonads, yeast fungi and other standards of smear from the cervical canal. Latin letters V, C and U mean respectively the vagina, cervix and urethra (those tissues where certain microorganisms were found or not found).
On the deviation from the norm, the following facts say:
- a large number of white blood cells, mucus or epithelium (inflammation);
- absence of epithelium (lack of estrogen hormone);
- presence of gram-negative rods ( dysbacteriosis of the vagina );
- gonococci ( gonorrhea in women );
- Trichomonas (trichomoniasis);
- chlamydia (chlamydia);
- yeast fungi (candidiasis);
- key cells (vaginal candidiasis).
There is also a variant for deciphering the Pap smear - with its help, cervical pathologies, including precancerous conditions, are revealed. There are 5 stages:
- No pathological changes were found.
- An inflammatory process is detected (it is diagnosed by exceeding the white blood cell norm), which requires treatment and then re-analysis.
- Small changes in tissue cells requiring extensive analysis (biopsy) have been identified.
- Malignant changes have been found in some individual cells. This fact is not yet an occasion to confidently talk about the diagnosis of "cancer", for this additional tests are needed.
- Oncological disease is confirmed by a large number of cells with atypical changes.
In more than 20% of cases, the results of this cytological study are false. This happens in case of imperfection of obsolete methods. Therefore, if you doubt the reliability of the result of a smear from the cervical canal, you can retake it or ask the doctor for a colposcopy - a detailed examination of the cervix, which gives extended information about possible pathologies that are imperceptible during routine examination.