Isolation and identification of actinomycetes from women using intrauterine contraceptive devices.

Of 259 women using intrauterine contraceptive devices 80 (31%) had visible actinomyces-like filaments in their cervical smears. Actinomycetes were cultured from a total of 31 women. Suspicious cultures were identified with the aid of a commercially available kit in conjunction with a computer data base. Culture was found to be less sensitive than microscopical examination of cervical smears in detecting actinomycetes in these women.