Pap test
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Related to cervical smear: Cervical cancer
Pap test
Pap test, Pap smear, or Papanicolaou test (păpˌənēˈkəlou), medical procedure used to detect cancer of the uterine cervix (see uterus). A scraping, brushing, or smear, is taken from the surface of the vagina or cervix and is prepared on a slide and stained for microscopic examination and cytological analysis. The appearance of the cells determines whether they are normal, suspicious, or cancerous. Although the test is 80% to 95% reliable, results termed suspicious may indicate infection or some abnormal condition other than cancer. A DNA test for the human papillomovirus, which causes cervical cancer, may be used to supplement or replace the Pap test. The smear technique is also used to detect cancer of other tissues, e.g., in the bladder. The Pap test was developed by G. N. Papanicolaou and H. F. Traut in 1943.
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Pap test
[′pap ‚test] (pathology)
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Pap test
, smear Med a similar test for precancerous cells in other organs
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005