Fractal dimension of cervical intraepithelial lesions on cytology smear.

OBJECTIVE

To explore the role of fractal dimension (FD) in distinguishing normal and different grades of cervical intraepithelial lesions.

STUDY

DESIGN

We selected 15 cases each of normal samples and low-grade intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) and 14 cases of high-grade intraepithelial lesions (HSIL). All HSIL cases were histopathology proven. The LSIL diagnosis was verified by two cytopathologists. In each case at least 10 abnormal cells were selected in LSIL and HSIL cases and 10 normal cells in normal smears. A total of 202, 157, and 184 cells were selected from the normal, LSIL, and HSIL groups, respectively. The FD was measured in nucleus of each cell by box counting FD method with the help of appropriate software.

RESULTS

The mean FD of the normal, LSIL, and HSIL nucleus was 1.2425 +/- 0.09188, 1.3504 +/- 0.6766, and 1.4379 +/- 0.08830, respectively. An analysis of variance test showed significant difference ofFD among the three groups (p < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

FD may be used as an additional factor to distinguish the dysplastic cells in the cervical cytology smear, which may be useful in automated screening in future.