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Subject Area

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Article Type

Original Study

Abstract

Objectives This study aimed to compare the sensitivity and specificity of visual inspection with the acetic acid (VIA) test and Pap smear for detecting cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and cervical cancer. Background Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women and the seventh overall. VIA is a simple low-cost technique screening, based on the ability of the trained health care personnel to detect Opaque acetowhite lesions in the cervix. Patients and methods This study was carried out on 420 patients attending the family planning clinic, Alexandria, Egypt, and referred for colposcopy-guided biopsy to the women's health clinic from January 2019 to August 2020. VIA and Pap smear were performed for all patients; then, the participants who showed positive result with either Pap smear or VIA or both (98 participants) were referred for colposcopy-guided biopsy. Results Of the women screened, VIA was positive in 72 (17.14%) and 41 (9.8%) were positive on pap smear. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of VIA were 86.11, 89.32, 43.05, and 98.56%, respectively, while the Pap smears had a sensitivity of 52.78%, a specificity of 94.27%, a positive predictive value of 46.34% and a negative predictive value of 95.51%. Conclusion VIA has the advantage of being easy to learn, low cost, having high sensitivity in comparison with Pap smear and with immediate availability to assess results, and can be used as an alternative primary test to screen premalignant cervical intraepithelial lesions and subclinical early cancer of the cervix.

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