Diagnosi,s and differential diagnosis of acute cer-vicitis
The cervix is the"gateway"between the relatively"insterile"lower genital tract and the rela-tively"sterile"upper genital tract.The pathogenic bacteria of acute cervicitis mainly are sexually trans-mitted pathogens.Namely,the exogenous pathogens,including Chlamydia trachomatis,Neisseria gonor-rhoeae Mycoplasma genitalium,etc.,but the pathogenic bacteria are still unknown in 50%of patients.The vagina is adjacent to the cervix,and the ascending vaginal endogenous pathogens can lead to cervicitis.Recent studies have shown that the bacterial vaginosis-associated pathogens are asociated with cervicitis.Acute cervicitis can further lead to pelvic inflammatory dis-ease,infertility,premature birth,miscarriage,neonatal infection,etc.,and correct diagnosis and treatment is essential to prevent the long-term sequelae of cervi-citis.The diagnosis of acute cervicitis is divided into clinical and etiological diagnosis.Clinical diagnosis and treatment is based on characteristic signs and microscopic leukocytes of cervical and vaginal dis-charge.With the rapid development of molecular di-agnostic technology and its wide application in clinical practice,their diagnostic performance in pathogens has also shown an increasingly important role.This article describes the diagnostic approach and their advantages and limitations of acute cervicitis,and discusses other disease that need to be differentiated.