title: Identification of males at increased risk for genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection among patients referred for urological consultation.
abstract: In order to identify the probable risk groups, this study analysed the reasons for referral to a urological clinic and the indications for peniscopy among males with suspected genital HPV infection. The patients were derived from a series of 2370 consecutive males attending our urological clinic in Sao Paulo, of whom 652 males (27.5%) aroused a clinical suspicion of genital HPV infection. Patients were categorized into 7 groups, according to their indications for referral. Altogether, 459 (70.4%) were examined by peniscopy, and 403 (87.8%) were biopsied and tested for HPV by Hybrid Capture 2 (HCII) for both oncogenic and non-oncogenic HPV types. The most frequent indication for referral in HPV-positive males (both in peniscopy and by HCII) was other diseases (group 6), followed by those who had partners HPV positive (group 1). The highest HPV prevalence (42%) was found among those with visible lesions, followed by those (38%) with previous condyloma. Of the other STDs, urethritis was significantly associated with HPV detection. Importantly, HPV was detected in 27% of the males referred due to other conditions non-related to HPV. We conclude that the risk groups for genital HPV infections include males with visible lesions, previous history of condyloma, those with HPV-positive partners, recurrent balanitis, as well as those with other STDs. Urethritis is significantly associated with HPV. The most frequent indications for referral to urological clinic among HPV-positive males were other, non-HPV-related conditions. The HPV prevalence rate of 27% among these patients warrants them to be considered as another risk group for genital HPV infections.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Garnet, Sao Paulo, Brazil. garnet@uol.com.br
authors.forename: Julio José Máximo
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Julio Zonzini Máximo
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Naraja Teixeira
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.forename: Luiza Zonzini Máximo
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Kari Juhani
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Syrjänen
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D030361:Papillomavirus Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D010409:Penile Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D010413:Penis / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014572:Urology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*