Comparative analysis of conventional cytology and liquid-based cytology in the detection of carcinoma cervix and its precursor lesions

Context: The conventional smears (CS) and Liquid based cytology (LBC) are important tools to detect carcinoma cervix and its precursor lesions. Aims: The present study was done to compare the cytomorphological features of cervical lesions using both techniques and compare with the histopathological diagnosis. Settings and Design: This was a prospective observational study over a period of 1.5 years at a tertiary care hospital. Methods and Material: A total of 969 women in the age group of 21–65 years presenting with either routine screening or complaints of vaginal bleeding, discharge, or pelvic pain were enrolled for the study. Both the CS and LBC smears were analyzed and compared with the corresponding histopathology diagnosis. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software and P values <0.05 were considered significant. Results: There were 8.57% unsatisfactory smears in CS as compared to 0.5% in LBC smears. Liquid-based cytology was superior to conventional preparations in terms of smear adequacy, lesser hemorrhagic and inflammatory background, and presence of more endocervical cells. Liquid-based cytology showed a better yield in detecting all the types of epithelial cell lesions with a concordance rate of 73.9% between the two techniques. On histopathology correlation of these lesions, LBC had a higher sensitivity (96.67%) and diagnostic accuracy (99.08%) as compared to CS (73.33% and 92.66%, respectively). Conclusions: Liquid-based cytology is superior to conventional cytology for the detection of epithelial cell lesions. Reduction in the unsatisfactory smears, a cleaner background, and better representation of the sample are more significantly appreciated on LBC in contrast to CS