A Pap test is an exam that can reveal whether you have cervical cancer. This article explains how it’s done and what your results can reveal about your health.

The test involves a cell sample being taken from the cervical wall. ... What do my Pap test results mean and how can my partner and I know if we are infected with HPV? Play.

You have no history of a precancerous Pap test result, no HIV infection, ... for example, if you are HIV positive (carry the virus that causes AIDS), or have a weakened immune system.

Figure 2. Triage of women with ASC-US Pap test results. *Management of pregnant women and non-pregnant women is the same. † For postmenopausal women, cytology may be repeated approximately 1 ...

For example, if your infection is bacterial, you will have to take an antibiotic, ... In fact, one study estimates that about 15 percent of all abnormal Pap test results are false positives.

If they come back unsatisfactory, it may mean you need to come back in for another Pap smear because the sample didn’t provide enough cells for the test. If the results are abnormal, don’t ...

3. HPV found with inadequate cell results. You'll be invited to take another smear test in three months' time to gain a better sample to check for any cell changes.

After the positive HPV result, physicians can use the same tissue sample for a Pap smear and check for signs of cancer. The ...

If you get an abnormal result from your pap test, don’t panic: “Many women have abnormal cervical cancer screening results and an abnormal result does not mean that you have cancer ...

Delays to process Pap test results are being felt across much of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic played a role in creating a backlog of all kinds of screening tests — but industry insiders ...

Using Medicare data to look at 15 million women over 20 years, the researchers found that the proportion who received at least one Pap or HPV (human papillomavirus) test dropped from almost 19 ...