Squamous intraepithelial lesion

squamous intraepithelial lesion

Cytology A term that encompasseses a spectrum of noninvasive cervical epithelial abnormalities–eg, flat condyloma, dysplasia/carcinoma in situ, CIN; the Bethesda Classification divides SILs into low-grade and high-grade lesions; the former encompass cellular changes associated with HPV cytopathic effect–koilocytotic atypia and mild dysplasia; high-grade lesions encompass moderate dysplasia, severe dysplasia, carcinoma in situ/CIN2–3. See CIN, High-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, Pap smear.

McGraw-Hill Concise Dictionary of Modern Medicine. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL)

A term used to categorize the severity of abnormal changes arising in the squamous, or outermost, layer of the cervix.

Mentioned in: Cervical Cancer, Pap Test

Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.