Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To assess the impact of the recommendation of the 2001 Bethesda System to report all benign-appearing endometrial cells seen in women aged > or = 40 years on the frequency with which endometrial carcinomas are potentially detected as a consequence of Pap test reports that mention endometrial cells.

STUDY DESIGN:

We identified all women diagnosed with endometrial adenocarcinoma who also had a Pap test during the preceding 6 months. The search was performed for 3-year periods before and after the date of implementation of Bethesda 2001.

RESULTS:

Benign endometrial cells were reported for 589 women in the 3 years before Bethesda 2001 and for 3,810 women in the 3 following years. The number of endometrial malignancies found on follow-up in these women decreased from 8 in the 3 years before Bethesda 2001 to only 4 subsequently. The frequency of reporting atypical or malignant glandular cells, as well as the likelihood of finding endometrial malignancy on follow-up, did not significantly change.

CONCLUSION:

Despite a 6.5-fold rise in the frequency of reporting benign endometrial cells after Bethesda 2001, the frequency of subsequent diagnosis of endometrial malignancies did not in-crease.