Cervical and semen cytology in infertile couples in River Nile State, Sudan

Abstract EN

This study was conducted in the River Nile State during the year 2010 to study changes in servical and seminal cytology in association with infertility, using Papnicolaou (Pap) technique.

Seventy couples suffering from primary (51 cases) or secondary (19 cases) infertility as well as 30 fertile couples were investigated.

The age of the participant ranges from18 to 66 years with a mean age of 36 years.

Cytological assessment of servical smears of infertile wives revealed 66 (94.3 %) of the 70 samples had cytological changes: bacteria was seen in 28 (40 %) of cases, fungi (monilia) in 9 (12.9 %), inflammatory cell in 16 (22.9 %) and cellular atypia in 6 (8.6 %) of total number of samples.

Cytological changes indicative of HPV or HSV infection were observed in 5 (7.1 %) and 2 (2.9 %) of the smears respectively.

The results of the husband semen smears assessment showed that 27 (38.6 %) had normal cytology, 22 (31.4 %) showed presence of bacteria, 20 (30 %) had inflammatory cells and 36 (51.4 %) exhibit smear of abnormal morphology.

It can be concluded from this study that, bacterial, fungal and/or viral infections may constitute important risk factors for infertility in the Sudan and cytological techniques are very useful in disclosing these factors.