A pap smear (or pap test) is a screening for cervical cancer. It involves taking cells from the cervix and vagina and examining them under a microscope. The test is looking for cervical ...

A medical professional can look at the swab under a microscope and determine if these cells have signs of cervical cancer. An abnormal Pap smear does not necessarily mean you have cancer.

“It's called a Pap smear, because you would literally take your spatula, scrape it across the cervix, and then smear that ...

If the Pap smear is abnormal, a colposcopy may be performed. A colposcopy is an office procedure that uses a special microscope (colposcope) to examine the tissue lining the cervix and walls of the ...

In a smear preparation, cells from a culture are spread in a thin film over a small area of a microscope slide, dried, and then fixed to the slide by heating or other chemical fixatives. A good smear ...

A little brush is used to gather cells from the cervix for a Pap smear. After that, these cells are submerged in a certain liquid to be examined under a microscope. In addition to malignancy ...

The tissue that is removed is then examined under a microscope to look for cancerous cells. The procedure may be recommended after an abnormal pap smear, or to treat dysplasia, abnormal changes in the ...