Magnetic resonance imaging is a method with high contrast resolution widely used in the assessment of pelvic gynecological diseases. However, the potential of such method to diagnose vaginal lesions is still underestimated, probably due to the scarce literature approaching the theme, the poor familiarity of radiologists with vaginal diseases, some of them relatively rare, and to the many peculi...

BACKGROUND Clinicians and investigators often do not appreciate the importance of vaginal microbiocoenosis and vaginal cytology in the health of prepubertal and adolescent girls. DATA SOURCES Based on recent publications in human medicine and our own experience with vaginal cytology and microbiology in children and adolescent girls, we review the principles of vaginal microbiocoenosis and cyt...

Background and Aims: Group B streptococcus (GBS) may cause neonatal infection during and or after the delivery, and is the leading cause of sepsis, bacteremia, pneumonia and meningitis. The virulence factors are carried by both capsule and surface proteins by which serotypes and genotypes are determined. However, some genotypes are believed to be related in severity of neonatal diseases, theref...

Healthy vaginal microbiota is an important biological barrier to pathogenic microorganisms. When this predominantly Lactobacillus community is disrupted, decreased in abundance and replaced by different anaerobes, bacterial vaginosis (BV) may occur. BV is associated with prevalence and incidence of several sexually transmitted infections. This review provides background on BV, discusses the epi...

OBJECTIVES To understand women's perceptions and health seeking behavior and the association between vaginal discharge, clinical signs and laboratory findings as a presentation of sexually transmitted diseases (STD). METHODS We conducted five focus group discussions with women attending the outpatient department in a large public hospital in Katmandu, Nepal, during May-June 1997. We also inte...