Herpetic cervicitis--a histo-morphologic study.

The purpose of this paper has been to find out the prevalence of herpetic cervicitis among routine surgical cervical biopsies, categorize the morphological changes and study their evolution. In a 51-month-period, 879 human uterine cervices were examined histologically, 19 percent (168) conforming to predetermined criteria for herpetic cervicitis. These criteria were typed as A through D starting with nuclear homogenization and passing through vesicle formation, bulla formation and finally ulceration. The type D lesion showed an agglomeration of Type A-C morphological changes occurring together, in addition to which focal submucosal haemorrhages were seen with severe congestion. The presence of the Herpes virus was confirmed with the Peroxidase-Antiperoxidase stain and the evolution of the bullae studied by means of the Alcian Blue-Periodic Acid Schiff stain (AB-PAS), Methyl Green-Pyronine (MG-P) stain and the Reticulum stain.