Genital human papillomavirus infections

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is an increasingly common sexually transmitted disease that has been associated with carcinoma of the cervix. Genital warts are easily diagnosed by clinical criteria; however, the more prevalent subclinical infections generally require laboratory diagnosis. Satisfactory methods for culture of HPV do not exist, and cytologic and histopathologic methods are the most widely available diagnostic techniques. Detection of HPV DNA is a more sensitive method, but its role in the clinical laboratory remains to be defined.