PATIENT-ADMINISTERED TAMPON-COLLECTED GENITAL CELLS IN THE ASSESSMENTOF CHLAMYDIA-TRACHOMATIS INFECTION USING POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION

Background: Diagnosis of genital Chlamydia trachomatis infection in wo men traditionally requires a speculum examination to collect endocervi cal cells, followed by cell culture. This method is time consuming, re quires stringent transport conditions, and is technically demanding. G oals: To compare tampons as a patient-administered collection method f ollowed by detection with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with the tra ditional endocervical swab culture followed by cell culture detection. Study Design: At the emergency department of a hospital for obstetric s and gynecology, 1,000 consecutive women with symptoms suggestive of infection with C. trachomatis were tested for C. trachomatis infection by PCR on both tampon (PCR-T) and swab (PCR-S) specimen and by cultur e of the swab specimen. Results: Seventeen PCR-T and 16 PCR-S specimen s were positive; 16 endocervical specimens were positive by culture, a nd 14 of the endocervical samples were positive by the three methods. Sixty-one PCR-S samples were inadequate as shown by the lack of amplif ication of the beta-globin gene segment, indicating poor collection of specimens by endocervical swab for chlamydial testing. Conclusions: T ampon specimens collected for PCR detection provided an easy and sensi tive method of detection of C. trachomatis and overcame the obstacle o f endocervical sampling and subsequent stringent transport requirement s of culture.