| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 1 | Page : 2-5 |
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Inflammatory cervical smears and infection in Kano, Northern Nigeria
Ochicha Ochicha1, Aminu Z Mohammed1, Zakari Mohammed2, Sani A Malami1, Hamisu Takalmawa3
1 Department of Pathology, Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria
3 Department of Medical Microbiology, Bayero University/Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
Ochicha Ochicha
Department of Pathology, Bayero University, Kano
Nigeria
 Source of Support: Bayero University Research Committee, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/0331-8540.102100
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Background : Inflammation is commonly present in cervical smears for screening of pre-malignant lesions. This study was done to identify microbial pathogens responsible for the inflammation. Materials and Methods : This was a prospective study of cervical smears and endocervical swabs from patients at the gynecology, postnatal, and general outpatient clinics of Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital over a 4-month period. Results : A total of 421 women between the ages of 17 and 80 years were recruited for the study, but most (95%) were premenopausal (< 50 years). Two hundred and thirteen (50.6%) of the smears were inflammatory as evidenced by prominent neutrophilic infiltrate, but only 127 (30%) of the study patients had infection as demonstrated by microbial growth on culture and positive Chlamydia antigen test. Seventy-eight (61%) of the 127 cervical infections occurred among the 213 patients with inflamed smears. The remaining 39% (49 cases) of cervical infections occurred in patients with non-inflammatory smears. Chlamydia and candida were the most frequent microbes accounting for 68.5% of all cervical infections. Thirty-nine (8.7%) of all smears were dysplastic with low grade dysplasia comprising the overwhelming majority - 35 cases. Conclusion : As in most published studies, cervical inflammation did not correlate with infection as infection also commonly occurs in patients without inflammatory smears. This renders patient management problematic for gynecologists. Further research is, therefore, required to clarify the microbial and non-microbial causes of cervico-vaginal inflammation. |
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