Urethral cytology and diagnosis of the pregnancy term. About some observations on the use of this method in an hospital setting.
A retrospective study of routine urethrocytograms performed over a 10-year period in 3,478 pregnant women for the diagnosis of pregnancy term was carried out to determine the reliability of urethral cytology when two, three, or four successive urethral smears were performed at 2- or 3-day intervals, and to investigate the correlations between the cytological results and the neurological ages of newborns. Microscopical examination of the 3,478 routine smears demonstrated the existence of a before-term aspect, a near-term aspect, or an at-term aspect in 7.4%, 66.7%, and 22.1% of cases, respectively. The diagnosis of post-term was noted only in 1 smear. Repeated urethrocytograms (1, 2, or 3 smears after the firstone) in women with a previously diagnosed before-term aspect or a near-term aspect revealed the occurence of the at-term aspect over time. Concordant correlations between cytological results and the neurological ages of the newborns were noted in 98.1% of cases. Three developmental stages (beginning, middle, end) of the near-term aspect and three stages of the at-term aspect were described. Due to its interest, the urethral-smear method should be worth generalizing as the other laboratory examinations that are routinely used to determine the term of pregnancy.
Rondelaud
D
D
Laboratoire d'Histologie-Embryologie-Cytogénétique et de Biologie Cellulaire, Faculté de Médecine, 2, rue du Docteur Raymond Marcland, 87025 Limoges, France.
Berthet
J
J
Esclaire
F
F
Fignon
A
A
Vendittelli
F
F
Venditelli
F
F
Yardin
C
C
Alain
J
J
Tabaste
J L
JL
Hugon
J
J
Barthe
D
D
D005260:Female; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011264:Pregnancy Trimesters; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014521:Urethra / Q000166:cytology*