ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2016
Characteristics of Blood Vessels in Female Genital Schistosomiasis: Paving the Way for Objective Diagnostics at the Point of Care.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01154907 (Prevention of HIV and Improved Diagnosis of Adolescent Genital Disease in Bilharzia Endemic KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa), which is not on this map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Prevention of HIV and Improved Diagnosis of Adolescent Genital Disease in Bilharzia Endemic KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of handheld tools in lieu of colposcopy for cervical neoplasia and female genital schistosomiasis.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2021Pooled it
- Cervical lesion proportion measure using a digital gridded imaging technique to assess cervical pathology in women with genital schistosomiasis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Trial
- IL-17A and IFN-α associated with female genital schistosomiasis lesions.BMC immunology · 2026Article
- Diagnosis and treatment of female genital schistosomiasis.The Lancet. Microbe · 2026Review
- Image segmentation of cervical grainy sandy patches lesions associated with female genital schistosomiasis using deep convolutional neural network with U-NET architecture.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- AID-FGS: Artificial intelligence-enabled diagnosis of female genital schistosomiasis: Preliminary findings.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Artificial Intelligence Image-Diagnosis for Female Genital Schistosomiasis.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health · 2025Article
- The burden of visually diagnosed female genital schistosomiasis among women with infertility in the Volta Region of Ghana.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Article
- A Review of Computer-Aided Diagnostic Algorithms for Cervical Neoplasia and an Assessment of Their Applicability to Female Genital Schistosomiasis.Mayo Clinic proceedings. Digital health · 2023Review
- Female genital schistosomiasis and HIV/AIDS: Reversing the neglect of girls and women.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2019Article
- Association of Urogenital Symptoms with History of Water Contact in Young Women in Areas Endemic for S. haematobium. A Cross-Sectional Study in Rural South Africa.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe mucosal changes associated with female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) encompass abnormal blood vessels. These have been described as circular, reticular, branched, convoluted and having uneven calibre. However, these characteristics are subjective descriptions and it has not been explored which of them are specific to FGS.
methodsIn colposcopic images of young women from a schistosomiasis endemic area, we performed computerised morphologic analyses of the cervical vasculature appearing on the mucosal surface. Study participants where the cervix was classified as normal served as negative controls, women with clinically diagnosed FGS and presence of typical abnormal blood vessels visible on the cervical surface served as positive cases. We also included women with cervical inflammatory conditions for reasons other than schistosomiasis. By automating morphological analyses, we explored circular configurations, vascular density, fractal dimensions and fractal lacunarity as parameters of interest.
resultsWe found that the blood vessels typical of FGS are characterised by the presence of circular configurations (p < 0.001), increased vascular density (p = 0.015) and increased local connected fractal dimensions (p = 0.071). Using these features, we were able to correctly classify 78% of the FGS-positive cases with an accuracy of 80%.
conclusionsThe blood vessels typical of FGS have circular configurations, increased vascular density and increased local connected fractal dimensions. These specific morphological features could be used diagnostically. Combined with colourimetric analyses, this represents a step towards making a diagnostic tool for FGS based on computerised image analysis.
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Registered trials
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