THE BETHESDA SYSTEM FOR REPORTING CERVICAL/VAGINAL CYTOLOGIC DIAGNOSES was developed at a National Cancer Institute sponsored workshop in December 1988 to provide uniform diagnostic terminology that would facilitate communication between the laboratory and the clinician. The format of The Bethesda System report includes a descriptive diagnosis and an evaluation of specimen adequacy.

The Bethesda System was developed at a National Cancer Institute sponsored workshop in December 1988 to provide uniform diagnostic terminology that would facilitate communication between the laboratory and the clinician. The format of this report includes a descriptive diagnosis and an evaluation of specimen adequacy. A second workshop was held in April 1991 to evaluate the impact of The Bethesda System in actual practice and to amend and modify it where needed. One of the major recommendations of this second meeting was that precise criteria should be formulated for both the diagnostic terms and for the descriptors of specimen adequacy. That is the intended purpose of this report.

Contents Foreword by Robert J. Kurman Acknowledgments Contributors List of Abbreviations Introduction by Diane D. Davey and David C. Wilbur The 2001 Bethesda System in table format 1: Specimen Adequacy George G. Birdsong, Diane D. Davey, Teresa M. Darragh, Paul A. Elgert, and Michael Henry 2: Non-Neoplastic Findings Nancy A. Young, Marluce Bibbo, Sally-Beth Buckner, Terence J. Colgan, and Marianne U. Prey 3: Endometrial Cells: The How and When of Reporting Ann T. Moriarty and Edmund S. Cibas 4: Atypical Squamous Cells Mark E. Sherman, Fadi W. Abdul-Karim, Jonathan S. Berek, Celeste N. Powers, Mary K. Sidawy, and Sana O. Tabbara 5: Epithelial Abnormalities: Squamous Thomas C. Wright, Rose Marie Gatscha, Ronald D. Luff, and Marianne U. Prey 6: Epithelial Abnormalities: Glandular Jamie L. Covell, David C. Wilbur, Barbara Guidos, Kenneth R. Lee, David C. Chhieng, and Dina R. Mody 7: Other Malignant Neoplasms Sana O. Tabbara and Jamie L. Covell 8: Anal-Rectal Cytology Teresa M. Darragh, George G. Birdsong, Ronald D. Luff, and Diane D. Davey 9: Ancillary Testing Stephen S. Raab and Mark E. Sherman 10: Computer-Assisted Interpretation of Cervical Cytology Marianne U. Prey 11: Educational Notes and Suggestions Appended to Cytology Reports Dennis M. O'Connor Index