Abstract
Objective : Laos is a developing country, and cervical cancer is an important cause of cancer mortality in women. However, cytology for cervical cancer is not popular in Laos. Therefore, we performed cytology-based cervical cancer screening of healthy women in Laos.
Study Design : A total 1000 healthy volunteer women ranging in age from 22 to 65 years (average age : 38.1 years) participated in the screening program in three district hospitals in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Cytology samples were collected using self-scraping instruments, subjected to Papanicolaou staining, and then judged according to The Bethesda System 2001.
Results : The results were NILM, 893 cases (89.3%) ; ASC-US, 33 cases (3.3%) ; LSIL, 19 cases (1.9%) ; ASC-H, 3 cases (0.3%) ; HSIL, 1 case (0.1%) ; SCC, 1 case (0.1%). There were 24 cases (2.4%) with koilocytosis, suggesting HPV infection.
Conclusion : It seemed that the scrutiny rate for cervical cancer in Lao women was higher than those in Japan. The percentage of cases with koilocytosis in Laos tended to be higher than that at our institute.
