Association between bacterial vaginosis and precancerous changes of the cervix

Abstract

Introduction: The majority of studies published so far on bacterial vaginosis (BV) have not been consistent in associating BV and cervical dy-splasia. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation between BV and cervical intraepithe-lial neoplasia (CIN), and between BV and degree of severity of these changes on the uterine cervix. Materials and Methods: The study included sexually active women who were referred by gynecologists to colposcopic examination. Based on histopathological results, the examinees were divided into three groups: 41 women with con-frmed CIN changes; 30 women without precan-cerous and cancerous changes in the cervix and 29 women with histopathologically confrmed invasive cervical cancer. Microbiological testing of samples from the genital tract included direct microscopic smears, wet and stained, and inoculation of culture medium, testing for Chlamydia trachomatis and genital mycoplasmas. Results: BV was present among 18 (43.9%) women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and 13 (44.8%) women with invasive cancer, which in both cases meant statistically signifcantly higher frequency compared to women without precan-cerous and cancerous cervical changes, who had confrmed bacterial vaginosis in 3 (10.0%) cases (p = 0.003). The risk of fnding the precancero-us changes on the cervix was 8.36 (1.89 to 37.04) times higher in patients with BV than in women without that infection. Conclusion: BV was signifcantly more common in women with the fnding of precancero-us changes in the cervix, and was not associated with severity of histopathological changes in the cervix.