Epithelial dysplasia of the uterine cervix in pregnancy.

The study is based on cytologic specimens obtained directly from the uterine cervix. Only a scraping of the portio vaginalis was used in studying 50 pregnant women with conspicuous changes of dysplasia, whereas a scraping of the portio vaginalis and material aspirated from the cervical canal were examined in the study of 50 nonpregnant women, all of whom had histopathologically proved dysplasia of the uterine cervix. The material was obtained with a spatula or a glass pipet, and then immediately transferred to a clean glass slide. A thin film of the aspirated material was prepared by covering the slide (on which the aspirate was dropped) with another slide, exerting pressure, and separating the 2 slides, as is sometimes done in preparing blood films. The cell-films were immediately immersed in a fixing solution composed of equal parts of 95 per cent ethyl alcohol and ether, allowed to fix for a minimum of 30 min., and stained according to the method described by Papanicolaou. From 1 to 3 cell-films were available from each patient, and, for the purpose of this study, the film with the greatest number of altered cells was selected for detailed examination. In an attempt to obtain a random sample, each specimen was examined by means of a systematic, meander-scanning pattern that was designed to cover the entire slide. The morphology of 50 consecutive altered cells was recorded for each specimen, as in previous studies, 17, 18 and a total of 5000 cells was examined. Inasmuch as the observed configurations were largely isodiametric, the nuclear and cellular dimensions were measured by means of a calibrated ocular micrometer in order to calculate cellular and nuclear areas. Studies dealing with the accuracy of the cytologic detection of dysplasia were based on 100 consecutive specimens in which a cytologic interpretation of dys-