UNSW Embryology

Human Menstrual Cycle

© Dr Mark Hill (2009)

Acknowledgements

Smear - Mid Proliferative

Description

Mid Proliferative (day 9 - 13) stratum spinosum (blue) increase in size. Dark precipate outside cells are bacteria.

Menstrual Cycle- hormones, temperature, ovulation

Human Vaginal Smears

Clicking on the small images on this page links to the full size images of smears and endometrium. Compare the appearance of the uterine endometrium with that seen during pregnancy.

Menstrual	Early Proliferative	Mid Proliferative	Late Proliferative, Ovulatory	Secretory	Late Secretory, (Ischemic) Premenstrual
Day 1-4	Day 5-9	Day 9-13	Day 13-14	Day 15-22	Day 23-28
Click on image to see full size.
Both stratum corneum (red) and stratum spinosum (blue) epithelial cells will mostly blood. Leukocytes and bacteria may also be present.	mainly large and small basophilic (blue) stratum spinosum cells.	stratum spinosum (blue) increase in size. Dark precipate outside cells are bacteria.	mainly stratum corneum (red) which are large and flat, appear due to high estrogen levels.	stratum spinosum cells (blue) which are folded or with curled edges, appear immediately after ovulation due to increase in progesterone. Leukocytes (small black cells) becoming more numerous.	stratum spinosum cells (blue) mainly with a few stratum corneum cells (red). Clustering of cells occurs at this stage and both leukocytes and bacteria are prevelant.

 

Human Uterus Endometrium

Clicking on the small images on this page links to the full size images of uterine endometrium collected by Dilate and Curettage (D&C) images . Compare the appearance of the uterine endometrium with that seen during pregnancy.

Menstrual	Early Proliferative	Mid Proliferative	Late Proliferative, Ovulatory	Secretory	Late Secretory, (Ischemic) Premenstrual
Day 1-4	Day 5-9	Day 9-13	Day 13-14	Day 15-22	Day 23-28
.

 

History of the Pap Smear

"Luckily, we have the famous Pap Smear - an excellent way to find cancer of the cervix before it digs in locally and/or spreads throughout the body. The Pap Smear is named after a certain Dr. Papanicolaou - who did a Pap Smear on his wife virtually every day for 20 years.

George Nikolas Papanicolaou was born in 1883 in Kymi, a small town overlooking the Aegean Sea on the Island of Euboea in Greece. His father, Nikolas Papanicolaou was both the Major of Kymi and a medical doctor. His older brother, Naso, had studied law, so his father convinced George to continue in the family medical tradition. So George studied medicine, and did well, graduating with a degree in honours in 1904............" (text excerpt from WWW Link below)

source: ABC- Great Moments in Science "The Pap Smear" (AUS)

Menstrual Terms

endometriosis-
dilatation and curettage- (dnc) a clinical method for sampling the endometrium (identifying the epithelial changes)
endometrium-
hormone replacement therapy (HRT)- The artificial treatment of women with Oestrogen and Progesterone to treat some physiological changes that occur with Menopause. There is evidence that treatment with Oestrogen alone can lead to an increase risk of endometrial cancer. (see ABC- Menopause HRT)
menopause- A complex physiological change that occurs generally as women age and falling hormone levels lead eventually to fertility loss.
menstrual cycle-
myometrium-
oestrous cycle-
Pap Smear- Named after George Nikolas Papanicolaou who developed a vaginal smear technique now used in the early detection of cancer.
pubery-
smears- a simple technique for collecting surface cells and identifying cell populations.

Glossary of Terms

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