Effectiveness of the ThinPrep Imaging System in the detection of abnormal cervicovaginal cytology: a practical experience in Korea.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to report our experience with the implementation of the ThinPrep Imaging System (TIS) in a tertiary hospital in Korea and to evaluate the effectiveness of the TIS compared to manual methods in the screening of cervical cytology.

STUDY DESIGN: Detection rates of cervical abnormalities in the pre- and post-TIS periods (January 2009 to February 2010 and March 2010 to December 2010, respectively) were compared. Follow-up cytological and histological results with concurrent or subsequent human papillomavirus (HPV) tests were retrieved.

RESULTS: ASC-US, ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL were more frequently detected in the post-TIS period than in the pre-TIS period (p < 0.005). The proportions of correlated cases of ASC-US were 42.2 and 40.4% in the pre- and post-TIS periods, respectively. The detection rates of high-risk types of HPV in ASC-US were not significantly different between the two groups. The proportion of correlated biopsy for ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL was similar in both periods. HPV positivity for ASC-H, LSIL, and HSIL showed no significant change between the two periods.

CONCLUSION: The TIS is potentially useful for the detection of abnormal cervical cytology on the basis of the increased detection rate of squamous cell abnormalities, with a relatively similar proportion of correlated cases compared to the manual screening method.