Abstract

CASTRO, María Isabel; ABRATTE, Oscar; BAROCCHI, Miguel  and  MUSACCHIO, María Laura. Papanicolaou-stained smears: its importance in the diagnosis of cervicovaginal infections. Acta bioquím. clín. latinoam. [online]. 2004, vol.38, n.2, pp.199-202. ISSN 0325-2957.

The Papanicolaou (Pap) smearis not only a mean of early detection of cervical cancer, but also a cytologic screening which reports on the hormonal condition and helps in the diagnosis of cervicovaginal infections. The importance of the early detection and management of this kind of infections is based on the possibility of preventing from later complications such as pelvic inflammatory disease, early breaking of water, abortions, neonatal sepsis and infertility. In order to prove the uses of the Pap-stained smears as a way of diagnosis on potential cervicovaginal infections, 251 samples have been studied focusing on the correlation between the results of Pap-stained smears and those of wet preparations and Gram-stained. The Amsel criteria has been used to classify the samples as Bacterial Vaginosis cases. Taking the Vaginosis cases, 80% of them showed correlation between cytologic and bacteriological techniques. Mycotic infections were detected in 69% of the samples, rate which increased to 75% considering the inflammatory samples. The correlation between the Pap-stained smears and wet preparations/Gram-stained was of 100% for Trichomonas vaginalis samples. In conclusion, there is a high correlation between these two methods that proves the importance of the Pap-stained smears as an auxiliary process for diagnosing specific cervicovaginal infections.

Keywords : Papanicolaou; Gram; Vaginosis; Trichomonas vaginalis; Mycotic infections; Amsel.

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