Choice Healthcare Services
The risk of developing Cervical Cancer is increased if you first had sex at an early age, you smoke, use contraceptives that do not act as barriers, have a large number of sexual partners who have had many other sexual partners. The risk is also increased if you have genital warts or you are infected with the aids virus (HIV).
At Choice Healthcare, Thin Prep is used as a replacement for the Pap smear. It overcomes the limitations and improves the quality of the test.
Rather than smearing the cervical sample onto a slide like with the PAP smear, the Thin Prep collection is rinsed in a collective device in a vial preserving solution. The specimen is then sent to our local laboratory where it is processed.
In clinical trials, Thin Prep improved the detection of low grade and more severe lesions by 60% and reduced the number of less than adequate specimens by more than 50%. This means that unnecessary repeat tests are reduced and patients less anxiety
Thin Prep checks for changes in the neck of the womb (the cervix) which is at the top of the vagina. It finds early warning signs that cancer might develop in the future.
If abnormal changes are found further investigations will be carried out to see whether or not treatment is needed. Abnormal test results do not mean that you have cancer! They are often caused by an inflammation or an infection for some women the changes in the cervix return to normal by themselves other women will need simple out-patients treatment that is virtually 100% effective.
Colposcopy will determine the type and extent of the abnormal area on the cervix. The results show if you need treatment, and if so what treatment. The result of the biopsy shows how abnormal the area is, it may be that no further treatment is needed.
The terms for cell changes confirmed by biopsy is call Cervical Intra-Epithehal Neoplasia, commonly known as CIN.
The Thin Prep is the first real improvement to Pap smear since it was introduced 50 years ago. This new test gives a new level of confidence in reliability of your results.
