[Effects of methotrexate on cervico-vaginal cytology]

Disturbances of folic acid metabolism can bring about the appearance of characteristic displastic cells, FD cells, in the cervico-vaginal epithelium. A study of the colpocytogram in a series of patients who had trophoblastic tumours treated with methotrexate shows that the administration of an antifolic agent can provoke under certain conditions the appearance of FD cells or an increase in their number when they are present before chemotherapy has been started. These cells are in a variable percentage of cases, transitory in nature but when methotrexate treatments are repeated they often return as a regular feature. The cytomorphologic aspect of these FD cells when they appear after chemotherapy is identical to those that exist spontaneously in certain deficiency conditions occuring in pregnancy and the puerperium.