CYCLIC CHANGES IN THE VAGINAL BUT NOT IN THE UTERINE MUCOSA OF AMENORRHEIC WOMEN, INDUCED BY A SINGLE INJECTION OF ESTRONE AND PROGESTERONE PRECIPITATES
Vaginal smears and endometrial biopsies were obtained from 19 amenorrheic women treated with a single injn. of 5 mg. estrone and 50 mg. progesterone microcrystalline precipitates. During the 10 day interval between the injn. and the induced uterine bleeding, a shortened functional cycle, comprising both follicular and luteal phases, was observed in the vaginal smear of 9 women. Parallel changes were not observed in the endometrium, which maintained at the onset of bleeding the same postmenstrual pattern observed before treatment. The conclusion is drawn that the vaginal mucosa is more sensitive to the ovarian hormones than is the endometrium. Since the presence of progestive changes in the vaginal cytology may not be assumed to imply the presence of progestational changes in the uterina mucosa, microscopic examination of the uterine mucosa in order to establish its functional status should not be neglected in favor of the vaginal smear study.