Cultures from different parts of the urethra in female urethral syndrome

It is a common belief that the female urethral syndrome is an infectious disease, caused by ascending vestibular microorganisms or bacteria harboured in the paraurethral glands. To study the flora of different parts of the urethra in patients with urgency, cultures were obtained in 36 cases from the proximal urethra, the external urethral opening, the distal urethra after paraurethral massage and from the upper vagina for comparison. All locations were dominated by lactobacillae. Enterobacteria and anaerobic bacteria occurred in approximately one third of the cases at all sites, although only in small amounts in the urethra, especially in the proximal part. The urethral and the vaginal flora resembled each other very closely. Only in a few cases did a possible pathogen reside solely in the urethra, i.e. it could not be found in the vagina or in the vestibular flora. On the whole, no appreciable amount of any microorganism was present in the urethra or in secretion from the paraurethral glands. The clinical significance which a very small amount of enterobacteria or anaerobes may have in these locations remains to be established.