Cervical Smears
Cervical smears - who they're for
The Avenue clinic offers a private and confidential cervical smear service for women who want to assess the risk of cervical cancer.
Cervical smear service
Our efficient service aims to give women peace of mind and the best clinical care and advice available. Many women find that they want a cervical smear test more regularly than the NHS can provide.
Cervical smear - how it works
During your consultation you and the doctor will talk through your personal situation. The doctor will be able to take a cervical sample that we then send off to a private laboratory in London. You will be advised of the result s in writing within approximately two weeks.
Cervical smear – which test is used?
THIN PREP CERVICAL SMEAR TESTS
The standard Pap test involves taking cells from the cervix and putting them on a small glass slide and examining them under a microscope to look for abnormal cells.
The "Thin Prep" cervical smear test is a newer, more sensitive method of detecting pre-cancerous cervical cells.
In a thin prep, the smear test that a woman undergoes is the same as that of a standard smear. However, rather than using a glass slide, the cells from the cervix are placed directly into a liquid solution to preserve them.
The new test reduces the rate of false negative reports (ie. When the disease is in fact present). By improving the chance of detecting pre-cancerous changes, early treatment can be implemented.
Statistics show that a woman’s risk of cervical cancer is cut by 84% if she has a smear test every five years, 91% if she has a smear every three years and 93% if she has it every year. Some recommendations suggest women should have annual smear tests to reduce the risk even further.
For most women a smear test is not painful nor uncomfortable and takes only few minutes to perform.
What happens if I have an abnormal smear test?
The cervical smear test (Pap test) is designed to pick up minor changes before any serious problems develop. One in twelve smears is not normal and therefore, it is not unusual to have an abnormal result. It is extremely rare for any abnormality to be cancer.
An abnormal result usually means that some changes exist in the cells on the cervix. These are called dyskarosis or dyskaryotic cells. In many cases, these cell changes return to normal on their own. A repeat smear after 3-6 months is
commonly advised in mild abnormalties. A colposcopy is recommended if the abnormality persists. Alternatively if the abnormality is moderate/severe then a colposcopy is mandatory.