European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology (EJGO) is published by IMR Press from Volume 40 Issue 1 (2019). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.
An observational study of women with positive HPV-DNA tests and normal cytology and colposcopy
Purpose: High risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) are implicated in the aetiology of malignant cervical disease. The usefulness of HPV DNA tests in identifying women at risk of cervical cancer as an adjunct to cervical cytology is under evaluation. Patients and Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of 47 women positive for high risk HPV but with negative cytology and negative colposcopy at the start of the study. Women were observed for three years or more (in 96% cases) using six-monthly combined HPV DNA tests, cytological and colposcopic evaluation. Results: At the end of follow-up, 29/47 (62%) women were still positive for high risk HPV, 45/47 (96%) women had normal cytology and 47/47 (100%) women continued to have normal colposcopy. Conclusions: Normal colposcopy has an excellent negative predictive value for HPV positive women with normal cytology. These women can be safely screened cytologically on a three-yearly basis.