title: Human papillomavirus detection from the female genital tract: combined vs. separate scrape methods.
abstract: Because genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infections tend to be multifocal, it was studied how effective one combined specimen is in detecting HPV-DNA from the lower female genital tract. The study population consisted of 50 patients referred to a colposcopy clinic for a suspected condylomatous and/or dysplastic lesion. From half of the patients, a separate scrape from the cervix, vagina and vulva was taken first followed by a combined scrape representing all the genital sites, and from the other half, vice versa. HPV-DNA (types 6, 11, 16 and 18) was identified using the AffiProbe hybridisation test. Thirty-six specimens collected from 17 patients were positive for HPV-DNA. A multifocal infection was demonstrated in at least 11/17 (65%) HPV-DNA positive patients. The combined scrape was the most informative specimen, revealing 75% of all HPV-DNA-positive patients. It was concluded that HPV-DNA can reliably be detected from the female genital tract in a simple way from one combined specimen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mäenpää
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Arstila
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ranki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D015344:DNA Probes, HPV; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013048:Specimen Handling / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014621:Vagina / Q000382:microbiology; D014844:Vulva / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D015344:DNA Probes, HPV