Abstract
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the cause of discrepancies between nonโcorrelating cytologic and histologic cervical samples. The biopsy results of 433 women examined colposcopically were compared to their referral cervical smears (RS). There was a discrepancy between the RS and the subsequent biopsy in 120 women (28%). One hundred of these 120 RS were available for review; and in each case, a reason for the discrepancy was established and classified as RS overcall, RS undercall, RS sampling error, or biopsy sampling error. Fiftyโone discrepant RS were overcalled. They were reported initially as condyloma (19), mild dysplasia (22), and moderate dysplasia (10). One RS was undercalled. Nine RS were not diagnostic of the biopsyโproven lesion due to smear sampling error. The discrepancies in the remaining 39 cases were due to biopsy sampling error. Twentyโone of these 39 cases had additional biopsies or smears that confirmed the presence of condyloma/dysplasia, and 18 had negative followโup. In summary, discrepancies were a result of pathologists' interpretative error, predominantly overcalls, in 52% of nonโcorrelating cases, and smear or biopsy sampling error in the remaining 48%. Diagn Cytopathol 1994;11:343โ347. ยฉ 1994 WileyโLiss, Inc.