[Results of the study of 96,483 cervical smears of young females up to 30 years of age. A review 5 years following the expansion of a preventive care program].

The present report confirms, on the basis of examinations of our own patients, that the inclusion of young women aged under 30 in the Federal German statutory early cancer detection scheme (in force since 1981) was justified and successful. Between 1974 and 1985 we examined 96,483 cervical smears of young women aged up to 30 in our laboratory. Of these, 55,554 (57.6%) had been taken under the statutory early detection scheme. From 1974 to 1980 an average of 5,014 specimens a year were sent in. From 1981 to 1985 the annual average rose to 12,277. Of the cases examined, 1,334 (= 1.38%) were assigned to the groups Pap III, Pap III D, Pap IV a, b, and Pap V. A total of 254 cases were histologically diagnosed as follows: benign histologic findings: 27 cases; mild to moderate dysplasia: 71 cases (= 0.07%); severe dysplasia and carcinoma in situ: 144 cases (= 0.15%); invasive squamous cell carcinoma: 12 cases (= 0.01%) The 215 cases of histologically confirmed precanceroses among young women represent 28.7% of the total of 749 in all age groups in our patient collective. The 12 cases of invasive carcinoma represented 9.7% of the total of 124 such cases.