Association of human papillomavirus infection with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Human papillomavirus infections of the cervix were assessed in patients attending a colposcopy clinic. Of 348 patients with cervical biopsies, 134 (38.5%) had human papillomavirus infections, and of 251 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) 112 (44.6%) had human papillomavirus. The majority of patients with human papillomavirus had concurrent CIN (83.6%; 112/134). Patients with human papillomavirus were significantly younger than patients without human papillomavirus (24.4 versus 29.9 years mean age; P less than .001), had significantly milder degrees of CIN (84% versus 43% mild/moderate dysplasia; P less than .001), and had a significantly lower mean number of pregnancies (2.16 versus 3.05; P less than .001). A matched pairs analysis of 69 pairs showed the same distribution of CIN in both human papillomavirus and nonhuman papillomavirus patients. Electron microscopy of human papillomavirus--specific koilocytes confirmed the presence of human papillomavirus particles in the nuclei.