title: Prevalence and treatment outcome of cervicitis of unknown etiology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mucopurulent cervicitis (MPC) is a clinical syndrome characterized by mucopurulent discharge from the cervix and other signs of inflammation. This was a phase III, multicenter study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of placebo versus empiric antibiotic treatment for clinical cure of MPC of unknown etiology at 2-month follow-up. Unfortunately, enrollment was terminated because of low accrual of women with cervicitis of unknown etiology, but important prevalence and outcome data were obtained.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred seventy-seven women were screened for MPC. Women with MPC were randomized to the treatment or placebo arm of the study, and the 2 arms were evaluated based on the etiology, clinical cure rates, adverse events (AEs), and rates of pelvic inflammatory disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred thirty-one (23% [131/577]) screened women were found to have MPC. Eighty-seven were enrolled and randomized. After excluding women with sexually transmitted infections and other exclusions, 61% (53/87) had cervicitis of unknown etiology. The overall clinical failure rate was 30% (10/33), and the clinical cure rate was only 24% (8/33). Rates were not significantly different between the arms. There were 24 gastrointestinal AEs in the treatment arm compared with 1 AE in the placebo arm.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than half of the cases of MPC were of unknown etiology. Clinical cure rates for the placebo and treatment arms were extremely low, with most women concluding the study with a partial response. Gastrointestinal AEs were higher in the treatment arm.
authors.affiliation: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA. staylo2@lsuhsc.edu
authors.forename: Stephanie N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Shelly
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lensing
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schwebke
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lillis
authors.forename: Leandro A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Mena
authors.forename: Anita L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saylor
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McNeil
authors.forename: Jeannette Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D002575:Uterine Cervicitis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D016585:Vaginosis, Bacterial / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents