Atypical glandular cells in cervicovaginal smears.

Keywords: endometrial metaplasia, cervical glandular cells, cytology of glandular lesionsIntroductionThe term metaplasia refers to replacement of normal,mature epithelium of one type by another, notnormally encountered at that location. Epithelialmetaplasia and related changes of the endometriumencompass a spectrum of benign endometrial epithe-lial alterations; the relevance of recognizing theselesions lies in the fact that the atypical appearance ofsuch alterations can lead to misdiagnosis of anendometrial neoplasm.