Abnormal Pap Smear: What Does This Indicate?

Dr. Marchese explains what is meant when a woman discovers she has an abnormal Pap smear result.

Dr. Marchese:
Well when a Pap smear comes back abnormal, the doctor will sit down and explain to the woman if it’s a mild, moderate, or severe abnormality and they are graded as either atypical squamous cells. Squamous cells are the type of cells that are on the face of the cervix and if they come back saying atypical that means that they are not normal.

It could come back as a real mild reading saying atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance, meaning they don’t really know how severe that is. It’s called ascus and that’s the most mild, abnormal reading, and then the moderate abnormal reading is what’s called low SIL or low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and then a more severe reading would be high SIL – HSIL – high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions.

But what’s more important than just the Pap smear reading is whether or not the human papillomavirus was detected and like I mentioned, this can be done during the Pap smear screening is the Pap smear sample will be sent to the lab; they will check for abnormalities in the cells and then they will also check for the presence of the human papillomavirus.

About Dr. Marianne Marchese, N.D., L.L.C.:
Dr. Marianne Marchese is a clinician, author, and educator. She graduated from Creighton University in 1990 with a B.S. in Occupational Therapy and specialized in neurological and orthopedic conditions while working at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Dr. Marchese received her Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (NCNM) in Portland, Oregon in 2002. She completed a two-year postgraduate residency in Integrative Medicine and Women's Health and completed a six-month post-graduate training in Environmental Medicine.

Visit Dr. Marchese at her Website