Lgsil with negative colposcopy and biopsy

March 30, 2015 5:56 PM

This is my situation- had ascus and hpv negative 4 years ago, then 3 years ago was all normal now I have lgsil and they did a biopsy which was negative. They did not find anything in the colpo or biopsy. Now they tell me to redo the pap in 6 months. Has anyone experienced that- bad pap but normal biopsy and have to retest in 6 months? What is your experience? I am kind of scared cause I am wondering what is wrong with me
posted by barexamfreak to Health & Fitness (6 answers total)

Story of my life for the past 3 years. It happens. I am told that it works itself out if you keep yourself healthy. My doctor thinks I've still got positive paps/negative colpos because I have had a thyroid problem for the past few years and my immune system sucks. I'm just not able to fight infections anymore like I once was able to. The only thing to do is be patient and hope your body does away with whatever cells are giving the positive pap.
posted by Hermione Granger at 6:10 PM on March 30, 2015

IANA gynecologist. Basically your pap smear showed that you have some mildly abnormal (and not cancerous) cells in some area of your cervix. This can happen even without HPV infection, although it is more typically associated with HPV. LSIL goes away on its own in the large majority of cases. There is small but significant chance of progression to worse abnormality and even to cervical cancer, which is why they are going to watch it carefully with repeat paps. In the event you develop worsened dysplasia (HSIL etc), that would be treated with a procedure to remove the bad tissue, usually LEEP. This overview of the Bethesda System of cervical tissue classification may be helpful.

Long story short: your doctor is watching carefully for progression to badness and will be well-positioned to find it and treat it if and when it occurs. Oh, and your doc really should have explained this stuff to you. Never let the doctor leave the room until you're satisfied you know what the deal is!
posted by killdevil at 6:16 PM on March 30, 2015

Yep, that's pretty standard for a bad pap and negative biopsy (which is incredibly common). Every once in a while you'll get a doctor who retests in 3 months but most do 6 (which means you end up getting 3 paps in a year and change, which definitely qualifies as a watchful eye).
posted by Lyn Never at 6:54 PM on March 30, 2015

Yep. Same here. They just want to make sure a benign lesion or something doesn't go cancerous. Nothing serious.
posted by irisclara at 7:12 PM on March 30, 2015

This is standard procedure after a colpo. Also, I remember your question (and palpable anxiety) about the procedure a while back. Please do make sure you're asking your doctors about stuff like this. Or the nurses! Medical professionals love to put your mind at ease and trust me, they have heard every question in the book! Your fears won't be new to them. And if you forget something or a question occurs to you after you've left the office, don't be afraid to call.

Again, a repeat pap in six months is totally normal.
posted by cooker girl at 8:45 PM on March 30, 2015

Yep, been through this more than once. You'll probably be on a 6-month pap schedule for a while, just to make sure things don't progress. Generally this will go away on its own. In my case it hung around long enough that we decided to do a LEEP to get rid of it, but my doctor said that was unusual - she was amazed that I wasn't able to clear it up on my own.
posted by thejanna at 5:51 AM on March 31, 2015