Bacterial Vaginosis and Risk of Pelvic Inflammatory Disease.
Ness, Roberta B. MD, MPH *; Hillier, Sharon L. PhD *+; Kip, Kevin E. PhD *; Soper, David E. MD [S]; Stamm, Carol A. MD [P]; McGregor, James A. MD [P]; Bass, Debra C. MS *; Sweet, Richard L. MD *+; Rice, Peter MD ++; Richter, Holly E. PhD, MD [//]
[Article] Obstetrics & Gynecology. 104(4):761-769, October 2004.

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BACKGROUND: Bacterial vaginosis commonly is found in women with pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), but it is unclear whether bacterial vaginosis leads to incident PID.

METHODS: Women (n = 1,179) from 5 U.S. centers were evaluated for a median of 3 years. Every 6-12 months, vaginal swabs were obtained for gram stain and culture of microflora. A vaginal microflora gram stain score of 7-10 was categorized as bacterial vaginosis. Pelvic inflammatory disease was diagnosed by presence of either histologic endometritis or pelvic pain and tenderness plus one of the following: oral temperature greater than 38.3[degrees]C; sedimentation rate greater than 15 mm/hour; white blood count greater than 10,000; or lower genital tract detection of leukorrhea, mucopus, or Neisseria gonorrhoeae or Chlamydia trachomatis.

RESULTS: After adjustment for relevant demographic and lifestyle factors, baseline bacterial vaginosis was not associated with the development of PID (adjusted hazard ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.55-1.45). Carriage of bacterial vaginosis in the previous 6 months before a diagnosis (adjusted risk ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval 0.71-2.42) also was not significantly associated with PID. Similarly, neither absence of hydrogen peroxide-producing Lactobacillus nor high levels of Gardnerella vaginalis significantly increased the risk of PID. Dense growth of pigmented, anaerobic gram-negative rods in the 6 months before diagnosis did significantly increase a woman's risk of PID (P = .04). One subgroup of women, women with 2 or more recent sexual partners, demonstrated associations among bacterial vaginosis, Gardnerella vaginalis, anaerobic gram-negative rods, and PID.

CONCLUSION: In this cohort of high-risk women, after adjustment for confounding factors, we found no overall increased risk of developing incident PID among women with bacterial vaginosis.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II-2

(C) 2004 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.