IS VESTIBULAR MICROPAPILLOMATOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN-PAPILLOMAVIRUS INFECTION

The aetiology and clinical significance of vulvar papillomatosis is st ill controversial. To verify the association of micropapillomatosis la bialis with certain types of HPV-related lower genital tract infection s, 25 patients with colposcopic aspects of vulvar papillomatosis were recruited and vulvar biopsies were obtained for histologic examination and in situ hybridization. Sixteen patients with vulvodynia, without any pathologic vulvar aspects, served as a control group. Histologic e vidence of HPV was found in 20 cases (80%) of vulvar papillomatosis wh ile only one (4%) of the study patients was positive for HPV-DNA. Thes e results seem to confirm the scarse correlation between vestibular pa pillomatosis and HPV. In our opinion physicians must be cautions when treating these lesions even in cases with positive histologic results. Colposcopy is, therefore, of fundamental importance for an accurate d iagnosis of vestibular papillomatasis and successful management.