Routine cytology as a diagnostic aid in chlamydial cervicitis

The cytological abnormalities seen in connection with cervical inflammation due to Chlamydia trachomatis are briefly reviewed. Severe inflammatory changes and the occurrence of metaplastic cells and tissue repair cells, which are indicative of severe tissue damage, are common findings in chlamydial cervicitis. However, these changes may also be found in inflammatory states not caused by Chlamydia. Differentiation between the intracytoplasmic inclusions pathognomonic of chlamydial infection and the inflammatory degenerative cytoplasmic formations currently seen in exfoliated cervical cells cannot confidently be made from Papanicolaou-stained specimens. Routine cytology, therefore, is not the proper method for diagnosing chlamydial infection.