| July 2005 · Vol. 17, No. 7 LETTERS
For Pap testing, “every 3 years” means never
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Fast Track
“These few unfortunate women must be sacrificed for the sake of avoiding all those costly colposcopies”
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In his commentary on 2 studies of Pap testing practices, Dr. Neal M. Lonky chides the authors of those studies for failing to ask respondents why they cling to the outmoded ritual of the yearly Pap smear (“How many ObGyns follow the new rules on Pap testing?” [April]). Dr. Lonky suggests the question is essential to explain why most ObGyns have not yet adopted the every -2-to-3-years rule now being promulgated by the “experts.” I’ll give you my non-expert answer: People are not cattle.
Consider this patient: A.B., age 59 (the case is real, the initials are not), had had 1 husband, 1 gynecologist, and 18 consecutive negative Pap smears (the last 4 liquid-based) when she came to see me in 2001 for her annual exam. Her Pap that year: a high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. Her cone results: carcinoma in situ with gland involvement.
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