The Value of Monitoring Human Papillomavirus DNA Results for Papanicolaou Tests Diagnosed as Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance: A College of American Pathologists Q-Probes Study of 68 Institutions

Abstract

Larger volumes of Pap tests may offer an opportunity to gain greater comfort in interpreting Pap tests. While there is significant variability in interinstitutional HPV-positive rates in ASC-US Pap tests, monitoring the HPV-positive rate in ASC-US Pap tests is a valuable broad measure of quality. Performance beyond 2 SDs of the mean should prompt reassessment of diagnostic criteria used in the evaluation of Pap tests and/or investigation of the prevalence of HPV positivity in the population from which the Pap tests are obtained.