Bethesda System Undergoing Major Revision.

Proposed alterations would impact categories of ASCUS, AGUS, 'benign cellular changes.'

BETHESDA, MD. -- A new, more user-friendly Bethesda sys tem is on the way.

The Bethesda System 2001, due out by summer's end, will be a major overhaul of the widely used cervicovaginal cytology classification system that was last updated in 1991. It is being revised in part because of new data gathered over the last decade and also to reduce confusion that has resulted from some of the 1991 terminology, Dr. Diane Solomon said at a meeting on cervical cytology sponsored by the Nation al Institutes of Health.

"Our goal is to promote effective communication and clarity in reporting cervical cytopathology results to clinicians and their patients," said Dr. Solomon, senior investigator at the National Cancer Institute's division of cancer prevention in Bethesda.

The 3-day workshop produced a draft document, which is expected to be finalized in time for the September meeting of the American Society for Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology (ASCCP). That group, along with representatives from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and many other organizations, will develop consensus guidelines for the management of cytologic abnormalities and cervical cancer precursors.

In the meantime, comments on the draft are invited. A bulletin board will be opened on the Internet later this month at www.Bethesda2001.cancer.gov. "Anyone who has any interest is very much welcomed [to contribute]," workshop chair Dr. Robert J. Kurman told OB.GYN. NEWS.

Here are some of the many proposed changes: