Understanding Abnormal Pap Tests & Atypical Cells: What You Need to Know

Question
karen , hello  ....My name is stacey,,, I am 21 years old.... I have been going t  womans health center since I was 15.... I have had a few problems ,also been on the pill from age 15 til about 6 months ago... I had a pap test  5 weeks ago... they called yesterday and told me my pap was abnormal.... that it showed  atypical cells ?  The dr.   says not to worry now that we will do another pap in 2 months and keep an eye on it...can you tell me what this is and what it all means? I tried to go to web md ...for help... but not much there....thank you.... Stacey

Answer
Dear Stacey,  This is not enough information, but nothing new when it comes to dealing with doctors and nurses...  They never tell you things that you really need to know....  You "MUST" go to the womans health center and have them give you a copy of the lab report on the pap smear....  Atypical cells could mean many things and what you need to know is what type of atypical cells they found...  The most common finding is Atypical Squamous Cells (also known as ASC)...  ASC is subdivided into 2 additional groups known as ASC-US and ASC-H....  By using these 2 different subgroups you should be able to go to the internet and find out about these 2 abnormal pap findings...   However, you MUST get a copy of the pathology/lab report and find out EXACTLY what abnormal finding there was, because these are only 2 possibilities and there are other possibilities also....

If you get the report and want to send me the information from the report by writing it word for word here and sending it back to me, I will try to help you decyphere it...

I really can't help must more until I know EXACTLY what the lab report said....   thank you,   karen