[Role of pathological dedifferentiation in the level of exfoliation of elements of the multilayer epithelium of the uterine cervix].

In cervical dysplasias, dissociation of intercellular junctions occurs to a degree that depends directly on the severity of the dysplastic process which involves the entire epithelium from the basement membrane to the surface layer. The present cytologic studies have demonstrated that as the severity of dysplasia increases, smears taken from exfoliative cells of the stratified squamous epithelium show proportional decreases in the number of cells from the upper epithelial layers and increases in that of cells from the lower levels. The findings obtained indicate that morphologic characterization of exfoliative cellular material may help in the early cytologic diagnosis of cervical disorders.