The 'borderline' smear in men with urethritis.

Four hundred three men with signs and symptoms of urethritis were examined by stained slide and culture of urethral exudate. Of these slides, 14.1% were interpreted as "borderline" for gonorrhea, ie, showing typical Gram-negative diplococci on microscopic examination located extracellularly only. Of these, only 10.5% were culture positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Patients with urethritis whose slides are "borderline" should be treated as for nongonococcal urethritis with tetracycline hydrochloride and not with aqueous penicillin G procaine.