Effects of oral contraceptives in vaginal cytology

Many literature studies have shown that long-term use of oral contraceptives (OC) is associated with lack of protection of the epithelium of the uterine cervix. Forty-five patients, from 18 to 35 years old, users of two contraceptive formulations, of different estrogenic concentration, took part in this study as volunteers to evaluate the predisposition of the cervix to pathologies. The results found before OC use were 11% of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and 13% of HPV infection. These pathologies were correctly treated and after 5 months of OC use we found total remission of Chlamydia trachomatis infection and 4% of persistent HPV infection. These data lead us to conclude that the OC studied here interfered very little with the presented pathologic results. The risk factors that we considered relevant were: 1) age group (the patients that presented HPV and C. trachomatis infections were young university students); 2) lifestyle (most patients certified that they did not combine the use of barrier contraceptives with the use of OC); 3) multiple sexual partners; 4) low socioeconomic condition.