Lo. Svensson et al., CERVICAL SAMPLING FOR DIAGNOSIS OF GENITAL CHLAMYDIAL INFECTION WITH A NEW BRUSH DEVICE, Genitourinary medicine, 69(5), 1993, pp. 397-399
Objectives-to compare a new sampling device, a brush, Accellone-Multi-
Instrument (AMI), with a dacron-tipped swab for detection of Chlamydia
trachomatis in endocervical specimens, and to evaluate if consecutive
multiple cervical sampling as compared with such a single specimen wo
uld increase the sensitivity. Methods-501 females attending an STD cli
nic and 172 females attending a family planning clinic were examined p
rospectively. Two cervical specimens were collected from each woman. C
trachomatis were detected by culture or enzyme immunoassay (IDEIA-III
). Positive EIA samples were confirmed by a direct immunofluorescent t
est. Results-When cervical specimens were collected with the brush as
the first device, 92% of the culture-positive cases were detected, and
when the samples were collected with the dacron-tipped-swab first, 84
% of the culture-positive cases were detected (p < 0.05). The first co
llected specimen detected 89% of the culture-positive cases and 81% of
those that were positive by IDEIA. Conclusions-The study indicates th
at the AMI brush is superior to non-toxic, dacron-tipped swabs for det
ection of C trachomatis in cervical samples by cell culture but not by
ELISA, and that the sensitivity could be improved by analysing multip
le cervical samples.