The Limitations of the Lugol's Iodine Staining Technique for the Identification of Vaginal Epithelial Cells

Abstract

This paper reports work on the specificity of the Lugol's iodine staining test for the detection of cells of vaginal origin. Two series of swabs taken from the tip of the urethra have been collected from male volunteers. In both series about a quarter of the swabs contained cells staining in a similar fashion to vaginal epithelial cells when treated with Lugol's stain. The use of this test for the detection of vaginal cells on penile swabs must therefore be questioned.