Vaginal and oral cytology of the menopause. A comparative study.

A comparative cytologic study was made of the hormonal content of the vaginal and oral mucosa of menopausal women. Twenty-three women between one and ten years (early menopause) and 33 patients more than ten years (late menopause) after cessation of menstruation had oral and vaginal smears taken. Comparable smears from 21 young women, and oral smears from 18 males served as controls. The smears were evaluated by the maturation value method, and averages were established for each group. The vaginal smears had low maturation values of 40 and 22 in the early and late menopausal groups, respectively. In these women, the buccal smears' maturation values were high, above 70. Similar high maturation values were found in buccal smears of the young women and men. It was concluded that the high maturation values found in the oral smears of the menopausal women are not the result of hormonal effect but that of local mechanisms or irritative factors.