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Utilization of Frozen Sections with the Vaginal Biopsy Technique for Early Pregnancy Diagnosis in Swine^{1, 2,}

Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station,³ Columbia 65201

Abstract

A PROCEDURE for early pregnancy diagnosis in swine which involves the histologic characterization of frozen sections of vaginal epithelium collected 20 and 25 days after mating was tested for accuracy in 182 gilts and sows. The presence of four or fewer layers of epithelial cells with no interpapillary pegs was considered to be representative of pregnancy. A prediction accuracy of 95.4% was achieved by the microscopic evaluation of frozen sections made from vaginal biopsies collected 20 days after mating. Similar results (97.1% accuracy) were obtained when biopsies were taken 25 days after mating. Staining with hematoxylin and eosin prior to a second microscopic evaluation of the vaginal epithelium did not improve the diagnostic accuracy of the technique. These results present further evidence that the vaginal biopsy technique provides an accurate method for the diagnosis of pregnancy in swine. Also, predictions based on the appearance of frozen sections of the vaginal epithelium present at 20 or 25 days after mating are as accurate as those made on fixed and stained histological preparations.

¹ Contribution from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station. Journal Series No. 6383. Approved by the Director.

² The authors express their appreciation to Mrs. Betty Nichols for secretarial assistance and Dr. R. K. Christenson and Mr. Fred H. Kent for assistance in collection of biopsies.

³ Department of Animal Husbandry.