Mycoplasma hominis in patients with pelvic inflammatory disease.

The role of Mycoplasma hominis in pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) was studied among 35 patients with laparoscopically confirmed salpingitis or histopathologically confirmed plasma cell endometritis. M. hominis was isolated from the cervix of 15 patients, from the rectum of 13 patients, and from the endometrium of 5 patients. Only two of these five patients had M. hominis isolated from the endometrium in the absence of Chlamydia trachomatis or Neisseria gonorrheae, the major PID-causing organisms. None of the patients had M. hominis isolated from the fallopian tubes. Of the 35 patients, 7 demonstrated a significant change in enzyme immunoassay antibody levels to M. hominis, suggesting a recent infection with the organism. Six of the seven patients had M. hominis isolated from the cervix, and one had the organism isolated from the endometrium. Compared with patients not having M. hominis isolated from the cervix or endometrium, those who did more frequently had positive serum antibody findings for M. hominis and abnormal gas-liquid chromatographic findings of the vaginal fluid, indicative of bacterial vaginosis.