PAP Quality Control and Laboratory Standards 3

Question 1

For ThinPrep and SurePath liquid-based Pap tests, what QC step must occur before the vial is processed?

Accepted Answer

Patient label and requisition matching

Answer

Verifying that the vial label matches the requisition form is the critical pre-analytical QC step to prevent patient identification errors.

Question 2

Which College of American Pathologists (CAP) requirement mandates that gynecologic cytology slides be retained for a minimum of:

Accepted Answer

5 years

Answer

CAP and CLIA require that gynecologic cytology slides and reports be retained for a minimum of 5 years.

Question 3

An internal audit reveals that one cytotechnologist's ASC-US to SIL ratio is significantly higher than peers. The most appropriate next step is:

Accepted Answer

Conduct a performance review and targeted slide retraining

Answer

A skewed ASC-US to SIL ratio triggers a performance review and educational intervention before any further action.

Question 4

Which automated system is FDA-approved for primary screening of liquid-based Pap tests, allowing a cytotechnologist to review only flagged cases?

Accepted Answer

BD FocalPoint GS Imaging System

Answer

The BD FocalPoint GS Imaging System is FDA-approved for primary automated screening of liquid-based Pap slides, with cytotechnologists reviewing flagged fields.

Question 5

When a laboratory performs a 10% random rescreen of negative gynecologic cytology cases, any discrepancy found must be:

Accepted Answer

Documented, reported, and used for quality improvement

Answer

Discrepancies found during rescreening must be documented and used in quality improvement programs per CLIA and CAP standards.

PAP - Papanicolaou Test Practice Test

PAP - Papanicolaou Test Practice Test

PAP Quality Control and Laboratory Standards 3