Background: Only limited data is available on the impact of a short interval between two pap
smears. Most institutions practice a minimal time span of six to eight weeks before
obtaining a second smear. A short interval is commonly believed to be associated with
an increase of false-negative results in the second smear.
Methods: Two consecutive pap smears were obtained from 81 women. 41 smears were processed
using the conventional technique, whereas liquid-based cytology was used in the remaining
40 women. Smears were evaluated by 4 different cytopathologists. We analyzed the effect
of the short time interval, the different processing techniques and individual differences
in the cytological evaluation.
Results: There were no significant differences in the cytological evaluation of the two consecutive
pap smears (p = 0,07). Further, there were no significant differences between conservative
and liquid based cytology (p = 0,31). However, the interobserver variability was high
and had a significant impact on the overall results (p < 0,01).
Conclusion: Pap smears can be repeated immediately without a significant impact on the result.
Interobserver variability of different cytopathologists is high and should be kept
in mind when evaluating cytology results.
