Reproducibility of endometrial cytology using cytobrush technique and agreement for the diagnosis of subclinical endometritis between five predefined endometrial sites

Abstract

Contents The objectives of this study were as follows: (a) to assess the reproducibility of polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) cell counts at five predefined endometrial sites (corpus uteri, left horn base, right horn base, left horn tip and right horn tip) and (b) to determine the agreement for the diagnosis of subclinical endometritis (SE) between the different endometrial sites. Forty milking cows between 28 and 34 days post‐partum were enrolled for endometrial sampling using cytobrush technique. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to evaluate the reproducibility of PMN counts at different sites. The right horn base was found to have the greatest agreement of PMN counts with the other endometrial sites (ICC = 0.66–0.85). Twenty‐eight of 40 cows showed no signs of clinical endometritis and were used for evaluation of agreement for the diagnosis of SE, analysed by using Cohen´s kappa (κ) statistics. Agreement for SE diagnosis with PMN cut‐off ≥5% was greatest between the right horn base and the right horn tip (κ = 0.84), and with PMN cut‐off ≥18% between the right horn base and left horn tip (κ = 1.0), respectively. The results indicate that the right horn base can be regarded as suitable for cytobrush sampling. The probability to detect an animal positive for SE (PMN ≥ 5%) with a single cytobrush sampling was 51.0%; thus, a second sampling is recommended to improve the accuracy.

Methoden zur fortlaufenden Körperkonditionsbeurteilung von Milchkühen – eine Übersicht

“…Bei Jungrindern wird eine NEB schon a. p. beobachtet 14 . Pothmann et al 15 nennen für das österreichische Fleckvieh ähnliche zeitliche Angaben. Der damit einhergehende Tiefpunkt der Körperkondition im Herdenmittel liegt in dieser Studie am 110.…”

“… Prägnant hervorstehende Knochenpunkte 2 , 25 Beckenknochen, Wirbelfortsätze ohne Fett- und Fleischauflage (palpatorisch, visuell) 2 , 10 , 25 Dornfortsätze einzeln erkennbar 15 Querfortsätze Lendenwirbel mehr als zur Hälfte erkennbar 15 , sägezahnartig 31 Dammbereich: V-förmige Beckenausgangsgrube und Hohlschwanzbildung 15 Mager und unterernährt 10 , 25 …”

Messenger RNA Expression of Selected Factors at Different Sites of the Bovine Endometrium Associated With Uterine Health

“…Five endometrial samples were collected by CB technique from each cow in the same order of sampling, as described (13). In brief, the CB (Gynobrush, Heinz Herenz, Hamburg, Germany) was inserted through a metal tube (50 cm in length, 6 mm inner diameter) and forwarded under manual control to the sites in the following order: (i) corpus uteri (CU), (ii) base of the left horn (LHB), (iii) tip of the left horn (LHT), (iv) base of the right horn (RHB), and (v) tip of the right horn (RHT).…”

“…The cytobrush (CB) technique was reported as a reliable and accurate method for endometrial sampling and the diagnosis of SE by determining the proportion of PMN in the smears (9)(10)(11). It has been discussed whether a single sample is representative for the entire endometrium and affects the accuracy of the diagnosis of SE [reviewed by (12,13)]. The CB technique can also be used to evaluate the mRNA expression in the endometrial samples.…”

Cytological endometritis diagnosis in primiparous versus multiparous dairy cows

“…Clinical endometritis can be diagnosed by the presence of purulent vaginal discharge and other parameters, as previously described (Williams et al, 2005;Wagener et al, 2017). Another technique for diagnosing endometritis is microscopic evaluation of endometrial cytology smears, sampled by an endometrial cytobrush (Kasimanickam et al, 2004;Barlund et al, 2008;Pothmann et al, 2019), low-volume uterine lavage (Gilbert et al, 2005;Cheong et al, 2011;Van Schyndel et al, 2018), or Cytotape (Pascottini et al, 2015). When endometritis is diagnosed using cytological techniques, the term subclinical endometritis is commonly used if there are no signs of clinical endometritis in vaginal examination (i.e., purulent vaginal discharge).…”