Abstract
In the introduction, it is necessary to explain for some readers the difference between "conventional cytology" and "cytology in a liquid medium - the so-called BLC". We all know conventional cytology in practice - it is applied by a gynecologist directly to the slide and after fixation it is sent for processing.
Probably most of us can already imagine taking into a liquid medium if we use HPV DNA testing. The difference is that the methodology of sampling into a liquid medium recommends to "shake" the contents of the swab from the sampling brush or from the spatula with several rotary movements in the medium.
The main advantage of cytology in a liquid medium is the possibility to subsequently perform HPV DNA testing according to the cytology from one sample. Both methods can also be easily performed simultaneously from a single collection as part of screening or post-cancer screening.
The second advantage is a clearer and minimally overlapping cytological smear, which leads to higher sensitivity and specificity of samples. The disadvantage is the higher price, the need to retrain cytology laboratory technicians on new technology, including a different view of evaluation.
It is critics of cytology in the liquid medium who consider the main disadvantage to be "background elimination" and "smaller representation of the transformation zone". In their article, the authors try to prove on their own set and literature data that the absence of elements of the transformation zone (ie the place of the most common "start" of neoplasia ") is not essential for the result of the evaluation of cytological smear.