title: Fine needle aspiration cytology: a tool to diagnose cervical and vaginal endometriosis in low-income places.
abstract: Regarded as infrequent, vaginal and cervical endometriosis is probably more common than is generally realized. The apparent rarity of the lesion may be ascribed to the limited awareness of its clinical appearance, combined with technical difficulty in obtaining suitable biopsy material for confirmation. Thus, clinical recognition and tissue confirmation become essential. This paper focuses on vaginal and cervical endometriosis, documenting the clinical, macroscopic, cytological and colposcopic findings in 4 cases seen at a single physical vaginal examination. Diagnosis in these patients was facilitated and improved by fine needle aspiration cytology and confirmed by histology. This technique, which is not used for the diagnosis of endometriosis, could be an option in low-income areas.
authors: Maternal and Child Health Department, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil.
authors: Manoel
authors: M
authors: Oliveira-Filho
authors: Vietla S
authors: VS
authors: Rao
authors: José
authors: J
authors: Eleutério
authors: Francisco C
authors: FC
authors: Medeiros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle / Q000191:economics; D003127:Colposcopy; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D011203:Poverty; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D002577:Uterine Cervical Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000473:pathology*