Correlation between histological criteria and human papillomavirus presence based on PCR assay in cervical biopsies

Abstract

The aim was to correlate histological findings in cervix lesions to human papillomavirus (HPV), as detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). One hundred and seven women with atypical Pap smear were submitted to colposcopic examination, and suspicious images were biopsied. The PCR assay was performed with the primers MY09/11 and GP05/06+ and, as control, the beta-globin gene was amplified. The morphological findings were correlated to HPV positivity: parakeratosis, acanthosis, koilocytotic atypia (KA), binucleation, dyskeratosis, and number of mitoses. From 107 patients, 61 biopsies were taken: 11 chronic cervicitis (CC), 36 cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) (13 CIN I; 10 CIN II; 13 CIN III), and 14 suggestive for HPV (SHPV). DNA extraction was not possible in eight cases. HPV was found in 35% CC, 77% CIN, and 64% SHPV. The analysis did not indicate any morphological criteria strongly related to HPV. The findings with highest sensitivity for HPV were KA (88.89%) and binucleation (75%), but with low specificity of 29.41 and 52.94%, respectively. The higher predictive positive values (PV+) for HPV were also KA (72.73%) and binucleation (77.14%). Considering KA, dyskeratosis and binucleation together, PV+ was 72.41%. Conclusion: Although indicative, none of the studied morphological criteria was always related to PCR virus detection, denoting some limitations for histological diagnosis.

Dysplastic features relevant to malignant transformation in atrophic epithelium of oral submucous fibrosis: A preliminary study

“…Koilocytosis is considered a pathognomonic sign of HPV‐associated lesions . Although several authors have suggested an association between cytological and immunohistochemical positivity for HPV, others have found no morphological aspects that confirm the presence of HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) . The prevalence of high‐risk HPV (16 and 18) in OSMF tissue has been reported in the literature .…”

Evaluation of high-risk human papillomavirus types PCR detection in paired urine and cervical samples of women with abnormal cytology

“…nosis of HPV infection has certain limitations and do not correlate completely with viral detection by molecular assays (Salvia et al, 2004).…”

Polymerase chain reaction‐based fluorescent Luminex assay to detect the presence of human papillomavirus types

“…In addition, there is a false‐positive rate of 5–15%. ( 6–8 ) To carry out HPV genotyping, a reliable, FDA‐approved test to distinguish the specific HPV types will need to be developed and validated. A DNA‐based technology, the Hybrid Capture II HPV test, has been used to detect 13 high‐risk types of HPV.…”