HPV and pregnancy: diagnostic methods, transmission and evolution.

Pregnancy may foster the development of infections, in particular HPV infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate the entity of the relationship between HPV infection and pregnancy, with all the possible complications associated with this relationship. The pathology may be latent or manifest. Possible methods of diagnosis are clinical, namely gynecological examinations, PAP-tests, colposcopy or molecular, using viral DNA assay, Southern Blot, PCR, Hybrid Capture, etc. The prevalence of HPV infection in pregnancy varies between 5.4 and 68.8%. The population with the highest risk, also among pregnant women, are those under the age of 26. A number of different opinions emerge from the literature regarding the possibility of maternal-fetal virus transmission. None of the patients examined carried out treatment during pregnancy. The data reported in the literature on the relationship between HPV and pregnancy are highly discordant. This discrepancy depends on the diagnostic techniques used, the clinical history of the pregnant woman and the period of pregnancy when the sample is collected. Pregnancy enhances the development of the pathology which then often recedes in the postpartum. The possible maternal-fetal transmission of the virus is an important aspect: the letter is the main factor responsible for juvenile laryngeal papillomatosis. A number of Authors report an initial presence of HPV in newborns which often disappears within 6 months after birth.