title: The pathogenic microorganisms in papanicolaou vaginal smears and correlation with inflammation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Non-specific cervicitis or inflammatory changes in a smear report are common which are usually unclear for clinical approaches. To investigate the frequency of inflammation and pathogenic vaginal microorganisms in cervical smears among an Iranian population sample.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study was carried out on Pap smear samples of women referred to gynecological clinic of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between October 2008 and March 2009. This study was conducted on 528 conventional Papanicolaou cervical smears. The frequency and severity of inflammation and prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (BV), Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), and vaginal candidiasis (VC) was determined in the samples. Also co-infection of the microorganisms in Pap samples was evaluated. percentage, mean±standard deviation of the outcome parameters were calculated. The comparison between data was performed with the Pearson's chi square or Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of BV, VC, and TV in Pap samples was 17%, 11%, and 0.4% respectively. Overall, the prevalence of these microorganisms in women of reproductive age was higher than menopausal women. There was a significant association between VC and the presence of inflammation in our samples.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our results, inflammation in the Pap smears can suggest an infection of VC and the patients should be considered for proper VC treatment.
authors: Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Esmat
authors: E
authors: Barouti
authors: Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Farah
authors: F
authors: Farzaneh
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Azadeh Akbari
authors: AA
authors: Sene
authors: Infertility and Reproductive Health Research Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Zohreh
authors: Z
authors: Tajik
authors: Department of Pathology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors: Bahar
authors: B
authors: Jafari
keywords: Bacterial vaginosis; Inflammation; Pap smear; Trichomonas vaginalis; Vaginal candidiasis