The iodine vapor stained vaginal smear; its use in office practice.

Abstract

ATTENTION was drawn to the usefulness of the human vaginal smear in the clinical investigation of endocrine problems by Papanicolaou (1) in 1933. He described the cyclic changes that may be observed in the vaginal smear during the normal menstrual cycle. In a later paper (2) he reported the atrophic changes in the vaginal smears of menopausal patients and the reversal of these changes under estrogen therapy. Subsequently, various other investigators have used the vaginal smear to evaluate the effect of therapy in the menopause (3, 4), in amenorrhea (5), and in gonorrheal vaginitis in children (6); to assay and compare various estrogenic preparations and the methods of administering them (7, 8, 9); to attempt to detect ovulation (10, 11), and as a diagnostic and prognostic aid in abortion (12, 13). In view of the complexity of the staining technic described by Papanicolaou, a number of modifications and other stains have been introduced. One of the simplest and easiest to interpret is the iodine vapor stai...