[Analysis of a continuous series of 421 genital condylomata. Epidemiology and diagnosis]

421 patients who had genital condylomata were studied between 1979 and 1984. The majority of these patients were aged between 20 and 40 years and had had their first sexual intercourse at between 18 and 20 years of age. Most of them used oral contraception. They had had no children or one or more abortions. 10% of them had taken corticoids in the immediate period before reporting their condition. The diagnosis was made by colposcopic examination, by cytology and by histology. The diagnosis was suggested by colposcopy in two-thirds of the cases. Koilocytes were not found in about one third of the cases cytologically. Similarly koilocytic atypia was missing histologically in many cases. It is worth while looking for cellular hyperactivity. The definitive diagnosis is made when the virus is identified. This is essentially done by the hybridation test in D.N.A.