Vaginal biocoenosis examining comparing to exfoliative cervical cytology

Introduction: At present, the gynaecologists have been increasingly frequently switching from vaginal biocoenosis assessment towards cervical cytology results to obtain information on the type of infection. Exfoliative cervical cytology is a screening test for dysplastic intraepithelial lesions and ectocervical cancers. One should emphasize however that one of the four parts of the new Bethesda classification specifies such inflammatory lesions as: Trichomonas vaginalis, Candida, Actinomyces, Chlamydia, cellular changes consistent with HSV infection and changes of bacterial flora. The gynaecologists however may perform vaginal biocoenosis assessment individually and diagnose its abnormalities in a relatively short timeframe.Conclusions: Lack of 100% correlation between the vaginal biocoenosis test and cytological result according to the Bethesda system means that assessment of vaginal microflora in phase-contrast microscopy should not be abandoned. Purpose: To analyse the association between lesions revealed during vaginal biocoenosis assessment in correlation to lesions described in the studies dedicated to cytological assessment of ectocervical smear. Material and methods: The study group included 1991 female patients scheduled for the follow-up cytological screening in a gynaecological office. Patients underwent gynaecological examination covering external areas, colposcopy, vaginal pH measurement, sampling for vaginal biocoenosis assessment purposes and cytological sampling. Results: It was demonstrated that diagnostic conformity for Candida sp accounted for only 17.2%, changes of bacterial flora for only 4% and – in the case of Trichomonas vaginalis - for only 3.9%. According to observations, bacterial infections and candidiases have been more frequently diagnosed during vaginal biocoenosis examining comparing to cytological screening, whereas infections with Trichomonas vaginalis have been more frequently diagnosed in cytological screening. Conclusions: Lack of 100% correlation between the vaginal biocoenosis test and cytological result according to the Bethesda system means that assessment of vaginal microflora in phase-contrast microscopy should not be abandoned.