A Pap smear is a test performed to check for any abnormal cells in the cervical area. These cells are examined for dysplastic, precancerous or cancerous cells.
Obviously a precancerous or cancerous condition would increase the risk of your pregnancy and your doctor will monitor the condition throughout your pregnancy, saving treatment until the postpartum period.
The Pap smear is performed by inserting a cotton swab into the cervix and removing cells from the cervical area for further examination. The cells are then cultured and examined in the laboratory.
All women should receive a Pap smear as part of their regular primary care. An annual Pap smear helps doctors identify potential problems early so that they can be treated more easily and safely.
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There are few, if any, risks associated with this test.
Most pregnant women receive a Pap smear during their first prenatal visit. If a Pap smear was performed recently, within the previous few months, then your doctor may decide that a new test is not necessary. If a year or more has passed since the previous test, your doctor will recommend a new test.
Your doctor will interpret the results of the culture returned by the laboratory and advise you of their meaning.
A Pap smear will return positive in five to ten percent (1 in 10 or 20) of tests, whether or not you are pregnant. The test has a fifteen percent chance of returning a false positive or false negative, so any positive result will be followed with additional testing.
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A test returns positive if there are signs that the cells are irregular in either size or shape. Frequently this will simply be the result of inflammation or a human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. A more serious cause of a positive result is a dysplasiaA medical combining form that means '(a condition of) abnormal development.' Common examples include chondrodysplasia, epidermodysplasia, and osteomyelodysplasia.
Visit our comprehensive glossary for more pregnancy terms and definitions., a precancerous lesion, or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), or cancerous cells.
If you are not pregnant your doctor may choose to perform a biopsy; a test in which a few live cells are scraped from the cervix and examined for any signs of abnormality. Biopsies are not usually performed during pregnancy unless there are clear signs that the cells are cancerous, and your doctor will decide how serious the problem might be before deciding whether to wait until the baby is delivered or performing a coloscopy, which uses an instrument to carefully examine the cells in your cervix.
The coloscopy will be repeated six to eight weeks later, regardless of the result, because the cervix will evert or naturally turn inside out. This process happens slowly throughout your pregnancy and it will allow your doctor to view areas of the cervix, which were not visible during the previous coloscopy. Coloscopies will be repeated over the course of your pregnancy, with treatment waiting until the postpartum period. If a biopsy is indicated and the results show that cancerous cells are present, your doctor will discuss treatment options during pregnancy with a cancer specialist.
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