OCCULT GENITAL HERPES PRESENTING AS AN ENDOMETRIAL INFECTION DETECTEDAT DELIVERY - A REPORT OF 2 CASES

Background The prevalence and clinical implications of asymptomatic ge nital herpes remain elusive. Objective/aim We report two cases of clin ically asymptomatic intrauterine herpes simplex virus Ii (HSV-LI) infe ction in order to discuss their pathological significance and demonstr ate the potential utility of specific DNA probes and antibodies. Metho ds Standard histology, immunohistochemistry (THC) and in situ hybridiz ation (ISH) were applied to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue s ections of curettage specimens from women presenting decidualised frag ments retention after normal delivery. Results Histological analysis r evealed a focal clearing of endometrial epithelial cell nuclei, sugges ting a viral etiology. TSH and IHC with different DNA probes or antibo dies confirmed the diagnosis of HSV-II infection at the time of specim en collection. Clinical signs of muco-cutaneous involvement in the mot hers and of neonatal HSV infection were not observed. Conclusion These findings suggest that intrauterine HSV-II infection is not always ass ociated with disease. The IHC and ISH methods can be helpful to assess the diagnosis of HSV-II intrauterine infections in the presence of op tically clear endometrial nuclei. Whether or not such HSV-II occult in fection may be associated with viral shedding and risk of sexual trans mission was not evaluated in the present study. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce B.V.