A STUDY OF THE PREVALENCE OF MALE INTRAMEATAL WARTS USING MEATOSCOPY IN A GENITOURINARY MEDICINE DEPARTMENT

A cross-sectional study is undertaken to determine the prevalence of m ale intrameatal and distal urethral warts, using meatoscopy. A group o f 169 patients presenting for anogenital warts and a group of 74 unsel ected patients attending the Department for a variety of reasons durin g the study period, were examined. Twenty-one patients (13.5%) out of 155 patients with anogenital or related warts had external warts at th e meatus. Of these 21 cases, 12 (57.1%) had further extension of their warts into the distal urethra. Fifteen other cases of intrameatal and distal urethral warts were detected in the absence of external warts at the meatus. Twenty-three cases out of 107 males with genital warts (21.5%) were found to have intrameatal or distal urethral warts, thus reflecting the common occurrence of these lesions. A highly significan t association between the presence of intrameatal/distal urethral wart s and the presence of male genital warts was found (P=0.003). One hund red and fifty-three repeat meatoscopic examinations were carried out, 6 weeks after their first examination. Three new cases of intrameatal/ distal urethral warts were found. Intrameatal and distal urethral wart s occurred from a depth of 5 mm to 25 mm. One hundred and eighty-three female partners of the study patients were examined. An association b etween the presence of intrameatal/distal urethral warts and female an ogenital warts was found (P=0.028). No corroborating association betwe en the presence of male and female anogenital warts was found (P=0.47) . This observation may have a bearing on disease transmission and cont rol. The detection of intrameatal/distal urethral warts will be import ant in achieving successful treatment of male anogenital warts.