HPV prevalence in anal warts tested with the MY09/MY11 SHARP signal system

Anal warts are, from an aetiological point of view, a diverse category of l esions including condylomata acuminata, fibroepithelial polyps and seborrho eic keratosis, Human papillomavirus induced anal warts, in contrast to othe r types of warts, are contagious and not infrequently sexually transmitted, they therefore need to be accurately identified. A total of 24 anal warts were randomly collected and the histopatholgical diagnoses based on microsc opy, alone or in combination with a sensitive PCR-based human papillomaviru s test, were compared using the SHARP Signal system for detection. Three le sions were identified as condyloma acuminatum by morphology alone due to th e obvious presence of koiloytotic atypia; II warts without koilocytes were identified only after a positive test for anogenital human papillomavirus. One additional lesion contained human papillomavirus DNA of cutaneous type and 9 papillomas were human papillomavirus-negative and tentatively diagnos ed as fibroepithelial polyps or seborrhoeic keratosis, All 14 condylomas co ntained human papillomavirus of low-risk type. Of these, 12 warts showed a positive human papillomavirus reaction with in situ hybridization, Morpholo gy alone cannot reveal the true nature of most anal papillomas, even when k oilocytotic atypia is considered as a diagnostic hallmark. An optimal diagn osis of anal warts requires a sensitive PCR-based human papillomavirus DNA test. A test for identification of cutaneous human papillomavirus DNA is al so worthwhile.