DETECTION OF BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS IN WET MOUNT, PAPANICOLAOU STAINED VAGINAL SMEARS AND IN GRAM STAINED SMEARS

In a prospective study of 107 women, bacterial vaginosis was clinicall y diagnosed in 34 women. Compared with clinical diagnosis of bacterial vaginosis, detection of clue cells in Papanicolaou stained vaginal sm ears showed a sensitivity of 88.2%, a specificity of 98.6%, a positive predictive value of 96.8% and a negative predictive value of 94.7%. T he corresponding values for detection of bacterial vaginosis in Gram s tained smears compared with the clinical diagnosis were 100%, 97.3%, 9 4.4% and 100%, respectively. Compared with clue cells in wet smears, i dentification of clue cells in Papanicolaou stained vaginal smears sho wed a Kappa index of 0.87 and compared with Gram stain criteria a Kapp a index of 0.94. The correlation between Gram stain and Papanicolaou s tained vaginal smears showed a Kappa index of 0.89. In contrast to the results of earlier investigators our studies indicate that the demons tration of clue cells in Papanicolaou stained vaginal smears correlate reasonably well with the conventional clinical criteria. However, the Gram stain method may be more reliable than the Papanicolaou method.