THE VAGINAL SMEAR IN POPULATION SCREENING FOR UTERINE CARCINOMA

Abstract A technique was devised to obtain a sample of the vaginal discharge easily, quickly, and at low unit cost. Vaginal smears were taken on 5,314 women representing three population segments: general hospital admissions, institutional inmates, and the female population of an Iowa county. The established clinical and histologic methods of diagnosing genital malignancy were used to determine the efficiency of the vaginal smear as a population screening procedure. The cytologic examination has proved to be of value when used in this manner.