Pathology 2420A Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, Pap Test, Postpartum Infections
9 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Cervix is located at apex of vagina. 2-3 cm in diameter with central opening. Endocervical canal columnar mucin-secreting cells: area between these two is the transformation zone. This zone is active during after menarche and during pregnancy: in this area mucosa undergoes metaplastic transformation from columnar to squamous cells as a physiological response to the acid ph of the vagina, transformation zone in nb b/c. Immature metaplastic squamous cells are susceptible to mutagenic oncogenic stimuli, easily infected by hpv. Most cervical precancerous changes occur in vicinity. All cases of cervical cancer is preceded by pre-cancerous changes in cervical epithelial cells known as cervical dysplasia. Id of these changes by pap smears, clinical investigations (colposcopy) and treatment (laser) have reduced incidence of invasive cancer of cervix. Terminology/grading: squamous dysplasia (mild, moderate, sever, cervical intraepithelial neoplastic (cin grade i, ii, iii, squamous intraepithelial lesion (sil), low-grade and high-grade. Pap smear is a reliable way to detect cervical dysplasia/sil.
