Oncotic colpocytology stained with Harris–Shorr in the observation of vaginal microorganisms

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of oncotic colpocytology stained with Harris-Shorr in the identification of the cervicovaginal microflora and infectious agents. Results of microbiologic evaluation carried out in colpocytology exams, bacterioscopy (Gram), and direct exams of 2,017 women aged from 13 to 80 years were compared. Of these, 83.1% agreed between cytology and Gram, 3.6% partially agreed, and 12.8% disagreed. The predominant microflora was of lactobacilli (63.3%), followed by mixed flora (32.1%). The results of sensitivity to lactobacilli were 96.1% and to mixed flora 88.0%; the specificity values were 91.2 and 92.0%, respectively. Colpocytology detected all the instances of trichomoniasis observed at direct exam (0.6%). The most frequent infectious agents were of candidiasis (14.8%, sensitivity 80.3%) and bacterial vaginosis (11.9%, sensitivity 68.1%). Thus, Harris-Shorr stained cytology was shown to be an excellent diagnostic method for T. vaginalis, lactobacilli, mixed flora, and candidiasis.

Rapid Staining Using the Shorr Method for Intraoperative Peritoneal Washing Cytology in Advanced Gastric Cancer: a Pilot Study from a Single Institution

“…However, samples that are deeply stained with the Shorr method, such as rich and bloody smears, show crowding and overlapping of cells, preventing accurate differentiation [24]. This method is widely used for rapid cytologic diagnoses such as imprint cytology of surgical frozen sections, which is common in malignant melanoma, breast tumors, and vaginal cytology [262728].…”