The relative value of culture and endometrial biopsy in the diagnosis of genital tuberculosis

Abstract

One hundred and twenty cases of female genital tuberculosis which have been diagnosed by means of cultures of the genital secretions and the menstrual discharge in particular are surveyed and the results of this method are compared with those obtained by means of endometrial biopsy which was done simultaneously in most cases.One hundred and three cases were of the latent and 17 of the exudative form of genital tuberculosis.In 103 cases of latent genital tuberculosis in which both methods could be applied, the cultures of the menstrual and intermenstrual discharge gave positive results in 89.3 per cent, whereas the endometrial biopsy revealed endometrial tuberculosis only in 63 per cent.