Human papillomavirus in cell samples from Stockholm Gynecologic Health Screening

We compared the results of cytologic screening of 500 women in the Stockholm Gynecologic Health Control with human papillomavirus (HPV) detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and in situ hybridization (ISH). There were two main age groups, one 30 years and younger and the other 40 years and older. There were relatively more women with HPV infection in the younger group than in the older one (15.7% as compared to 11.1%), but the difference was not significant in our material. Most cases (8/12) with cytologic atypia were HPV positive by PCR. HPV type 16 was most common, followed by types 31 and 18. HPV of unknown types was detected in 43.7% of HPV-positive cases. There was excellent agreement between PCR and ISH in detecting and typing HPV.