A study on the diagnostic methods for Trichomonas vaginalis infection

A comparison of the sensitivity of the wet smear, Papanicolaou's stained smear, and culture in Cystein-Peptone-Liver-Maltose (CPLM) medium for the diagnosis of T. vaginalis infection was undertaken in 1, 197 female subjects, both with and without gynaecological disorders. The wet smear method gave 15.5% positives, culture method, 16.5% positives and Papanicolaou's stained smear 6.7% positives. All positive cases by Papanicolaou's method or wet smear method were positive by the culture method. These findings indicate that the wet smear and culture in CPLM medium were better than the Papanicolaou's method.