Value of wet mount and cervical cultures at the time of cervical cytology in asymptomatic women.

Objective: To correlate Papanicolaou smear findings with the wet mount and cervical culture results in asymptomatic patients, and to review the value of doing wet mount and/or cervical cultures in these patients at the time of Papanicolaou smear.

Methods: Asymptomatic women presenting for routine Papanicolaou smears at Sinai Samaritan Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, between January 1991 and January 1994 were studied by preparing wet mount (saline and potassium hydroxide preparations) and cervical cultures for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae at the same visit. Fisher exact test and Pearson chi 2 statistics were applied.