1997 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 33-36
cytodiagnosis method for the diagnosis of herpes virus infection is rapid and simple compared with other methods. However, its diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of herpes virus infection in the oral cavity is low. This may be related with technical problems in obtaining histologic specimens in the oral cavity. In the present study, a new cytodiagnosis method, the Thin Prep (TP Processor), which is based on a new principle for collecting histologic specimens, was used. Ten patients with clinical diagnosis of herpes virus infection which was virus isolation positive at the first examination, were used in this study. Six of these patients had herpetic gingivostomatits, three had recurrent herpes, and one had herpes zoster. The cytodiagnosis results were positive in four patients, including 3 of 6 patients who had gingivostomatitis and 1 patient with herpes zoster. All of the patients with recurrent herpes had negative results. The percentage of correct cytodiagnosis was 40% (four patients). The diagnosis accuracy using this new method didnot differ from that obtained with the convent ional cytodiagnosis method. It was thought that technical problems could affect the results because the method employed in this study new. In order to obtain satisfactory diagnosis accuracy using this method, it is desired to continue evaluation by examining more subjects in future studies.
