Abnormal Pap smear Management

Abnormal Pap smear Overview

Abnormal Pap smear is an indication of infection or presence of abnormal cells called dysplasia. A pap test is conducted to verify this abnormality. It is a routine screening test in which the cervix is scraped off from the womb or uterus. The cells of the cervix are examined by the doctors to check if there is any kind of change in the formation of the cells. With advancement in technology the Pap test helps in early detection of the abnormalities. Although, having an Abnormal Pap smear does not mean that you have cancer. Cancer is detected with the gynecologic pelvic exam which is usually done after the Pap test. Pap test is a very simple, quick, and painless screening test.

Facts about Abnormal Pap smear Test

• Regular abnormal Pap smear test is advisable for all the women who are sexually active.
• Abnormal Pap smear test has helped to reduce the deaths caused from cancer significantly.
• Abnormal Pap smear test is just a screening test and not a diagnostic test.
• Abnormal Pap smear test does not help to detect cancers of the uterus, fallopian tubes, or ovaries.
• Abnormal Pap smear test must be done at regular intervals of time even after hysterectomy.
• Abnormal Pap smear test can also be done when you are pregnant.

Causes of abnormal Pap smears

Abnormal Pap smear is caused due to infection or an inflammation. Some of the common causes of Abnormal Pap smear are Yeast infections, herpes, trichomonas, recent sexual activity, or use of vaginal preparations. In most of the cases the cause of Abnormal Pap smear is HPV or human papilloma virus which is also called genital warts. It is a very common infection that is found in most of the women who are sexually active.

Diagnosis of abnormal Pap smears

The three main factors that play an important role in the diagnosis of Pap smear are: patient’s medical history, Sample adequacy, and the presence or absence of cellular abnormalities. If the pap smears test is abnormal and your doctor notices some changes in cells of the cervix during the diagnosis then he may suggest treatments, such as Colposcopy, Endocervical curettage, and Biopsy. Depending upon the results the treatment is done.


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Total Laparoscopic Aortic Surgery Is Feasible, Shows Satisfactory Results

Newswise — Recently the use of laparoscopy for vascular procedures has been limited by difficulties in aortic exposure and anastomosis techniques, as well as the concurrent competitive progress of endovascular surgery. For aortic repair, best results (in terms of long-term patency) have been obtained by conventional surgery which has been associated short-term morbidity and mortality.

Endovascular techniques (which are noninvasive but have less reliable long-term results) as well as video-endoscopic aortic surgery are alternatives to conventional surgery. Minimally invasive surgery benefits include reduced time in intensive care and a shorter hospital stay; a quicker resumption of intestinal transit; less abdominal wall complications; and reduced requirements for anelgesics.

“The goal of total laparoscopic aortic repair is to achieve the same outcome as open repair without invasive laparotomy,” said Jérôme Cau, MD, professor at Poitiers University Hospital in Poitiers, France. “However, specialized training is required to master the procedure and get acquainted with coelioscopic practice necessary for laparoscopic suture.”

Dr. Cau said he and fellow researchers performed a study that completed a retrospective analysis of laparoscopic techniques for vascular procedures in a series of 219 patients, to determine its feasibility for treatment and outcomes with respect to aortic occlusive disease (AOD), abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and aorto-renal bypass in the endovascular era. These findings were presented today at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery®.

One hundred and twenty-seven AODs; 80 AAAs and 12 aorto-renal bypasses were studied from the hospital; this series did not include 110 aortic bypass patients operated on in others centers by this team. The mean patient age was 61 years and the gender ratio was three men to one woman. The mean operative time of procedures for AOD was 223 (±50) minutes, with a mean clamp time of 56 (±21) minutes. A total of 3.6 percent of AOD procedures had to be converted to open surgeries.

For laparoscopic AAA procedures, the mean operative time was 262 (±57) minutes and the mean “clamp time was 103 (±15) minutes. Eight AAAs had to be converted to an open procedure. The 30-day mortality rate was 0.9 percent. Overall mortality rate was 13.4 percent during a mean follow-up time of 16.2 months. The primary assisted patency rate for AAAs and occlusive disease was 100 percent.

Dr. Cau added that as any in any relatively new technique, laparoscopy’s place in vascular surgery remains to be defined. He noted that for aortoiliac occlusive diseases, this technique has shown excellent results and should compete with open repair for the treatment of TASC C & D occlusive diseases.

“Aneurysm repair in laparoscopy has been demonstrated to be feasible and reliable, and in our experience showed promising and satisfactory results,” noted Dr. Cau. “In the aneurysmal pathology we can predict that the competition with endovascular aortic repair (which is becoming the standard) will make laparoscopy more difficult to ‘find its place’ and make room for hybrid techniques. Specific training remains particularly important to reach technical success in laparoscopy and needs to be presented to the young generation of vascular surgeons in university pilot center.”

“Precise indications for this kind of surgery, compared to endovascular and open surgery, remain to be determined by randomized studies,” added Dr. Cau. “Nevertheless, it is a difficult technique. Further development will rely on effective training, advances in technique and instrumentation.”


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Women's Health: Sugary drinks can attack your health

There was an editorial recently in “The New England Journal of Medicine” whose headline easily caught my eye: “Ounces of Prevention-The Public Policy Case for Taxes on Sugared Beverages”, by Drs. Kelly Brownell and Thomas Frieden.

Because this is a health column rather than a political column, I don't plan to address the arguments for or against taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. The text of the editorial is available online at www.nejm.org, and I’d love to hear back from any of you with your reactions.

What I definitely would like to address, however, is the effect on our health from drinking sugared beverages.

I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve had conversations with my patients about their weight-loss efforts, hearing over and over again how they can’t lose weight no matter what they do.

“What about sweetened drinks?” I ask. “Well, I do have that Big Gulp of Dr. Pepper for breakfast every morning…” they innocently reply. Sometimes I don't even need to ask — the cup has accompanied them into the office.

Most people have no idea of the number of calories represented by the liquids they down every day. An 8 ounce serving of Coke or Pepsi (just so I’m not picking on Dr. Pepper exclusively) has about 100 calories, or about 12 calories an ounce.

My guess is that no one drinks just one 8-ounce serving, so for that 32 ounce large cup you get 400 calories. That may not sound like a lot, but it is more than is in the medium serving of French fries you bought to go with the drink.

As if putting that number of empty calories into our own bodies isn’t bad enough, sugary drinks are a major cause of the continuing rise in childhood obesity. According to the editorial in The New England Journal, 10 to 15 percent of the calories consumed by children and adolescents now come from sweetened beverages.

The offending drinks aren't always soft drinks-non-carbonated beverages such as sports drinks and fruit-flavored drinks are just as unhealthy. Having “electrolytes” and being marketed for athletes does not make sugar and corn syrup-containing drinks into performance enhancers.

Summer has arrived at last, and as the weather heats up we will need to reach for cold drinks more and more often to replace the sweat we’re all losing during that half hour of exercise a day. (You are doing that, aren’t you?)

Consider that you’ve just burned about 100 calories by walking or running a mile. Do you want to negate that effort by drinking a measly eight ounces of a soft drink? And if you haven't burned any calories from exercise, do you want to add even more extra pounds to your waistline by reaching for that sugar-filled cup?

Don’t wait to find out if new taxes on your favorite beverages will help make that decision for you. Drink healthy, and encourage your children to do the same.


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