Tenjin Y, Yamamoto K, Sugishita T, Igarashi Y
Acta Cytol. 1979 May-Jun;23(3):245-51.
We studied epithelial regeneration from its cytologic, histologic and microspectrophotometric aspects. In the squamous region of the uterine cervix, repair cells which have characteristic atypia appear approximately seven days after injury. Thereafter, these repair cells resemble normal squamous cells or metaplastic cells. In the vaginal region, the reparative processes are no different from those in the squamous region of the uterine cervix. Repair cells in the cervical columnar region are most prominent and atypical two weeks after cryosurgery. From the standpoint of clinical cytology, the differential diagnosis of repair cells from malignant cells is possible through follow-up of repeated smears.