The prevalence of abnormal cervical cytology in women with systemic lupus erythematosus

To compare the frequency of abnormal cervical cytology in women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with that of healthy women without connective tissue diseases by using ThinPrep (R) liquid based Pap TestsTM. A retrospective case-control study over 2 years was conducted. The cases included all women with SLE who had Pap tests during their treatment period. The control group included all women without SLE or other connective tissue diseases (CTDs) that had routine Pap tests in the same period. The age and demographic features were adjusted and matched for both groups. Statistical analysis included Chi-Square test and Fischer exact test. The SLE group (n= 55) showed significantly (P < 0.05) more abnormal cervical squamous epithelial abnormalities [14 positive cases (25.4%) than the controls (n = 8,175, with 285 positive cases (3.5%)]. Women with SLE had statistically significant higher frequency and prevalence of squamous intraepithelial lesions than women without SLE of similar age and demographic background. The data suggested that women with SLE might benefit from more frequent cervical cytology screening. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.