The efficacy of an automated preparation device for cervical cytology.

A new automated method for collecting and preparing cells for cytologic screening (termed the ThinPrep process) was tested. Four hundred forty-nine specimens prepared by ThinPrep and conventional methods were evaluated. This study compared specimen adequacy and detection of disease with the two methods. For the ThinPrep method, exfoliated cells were collected in suspension, gently dispersed, collected on a polycarbonate filter, and transferred to a glass slide. The ThinPrep method reduced the number of smears that lacked endocervical columnar cells by 24%. Significant improvement with the ThinPrep, versus the conventional method, also was found for detection of low-grade cervical intraepithelial lesions. Thus, the ThinPrep method improved specimen quality and reliability of cytologic detection of cervical neoplasia.