Accuracy Of Diagnosis Of Clinical Endometritis With Metricheck™ In Postpartum Dairy Cows

Abstract

Clinical endometritis, an important condition during the postpartum period in dairy cows, is diagnosed by different methods. A recently-developed vaginal device (Metricheck™, Simcro Tech Limited, Hamilton, NZ) utilizes information on the nature of vaginal exudate in diagnosis. In the cytobrush method, information about endometrial inflammation as determined by endometrial cytology is used in diagnosis. In this clinical investigation, the accuracy of Metricheck™ for diagnosis was compared to that of the cytobrush method. Specifically, this study tested the hypothesis that vaginal exudate is not always accompanied by endometrial inflammation. One hundred twenty two cows were chosen at random from a population of postpartum dairy cows that were between 28 and 41 days postpartum. The prevalence of clinical endometritis as diagnosed by Metricheck™ and cytobrush was 15.6% and 13.1%, respectively. The percent positive agreement was 36.8% and the percent negative agreement was 91.3% between these tests. The sensitivity and specificity measures of Metricheck™ were 43.8% and 88.7%, respectively. These findings support the hypothesis that a vaginal exudate is not always accompanied by endometrial inflammation. Only 37% of cows diagnosed positive for clinical endometritis by the Metricheck™ method had evidence of endometrial inflammation.