Human papillomavirus DNA in genital tract lesions histologically negative for condylomata. Analysis by in situ, Southern blot hybridization and the polymerase chain reaction.

Koilocytotic atypia (nuclear atypia in conjunction with perinuclear halos) is diagnostic of condylomata of the lower female genital tract, over 90% of which contain human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA. Genital tract lesions may be clinically suggestive of condylomata but lack clear-cut koilocytotic atypia. Of 57 vulvar and 60 cervical lesions that lacked clear-cut koilocytotic atypia, four (7%) and two (3%), respectively, had HPV DNA detected by in situ analysis. Using Southern blot analysis, HPV DNA was detected in five of 27 (19%) and 20 of 55 (36%) vulvar and cervical lesions, respectively, that lacked koilocytotic atypia. When analyzed with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), HPV DNA was detected in six of 22 (27%) and three of 18 (17%) vulvar and cervical lesions, respectively, that lacked koilocytotic atypia. These findings demonstrate that infection by HPV may be found in genital tract lesions that lack koilocytotic atypia. The lower detection rate of HPV in cervical lesions that lacked koilocytotic atypia with PCR as compared with Southern blot analysis may be related to the relatively high proportion of "novel" types (related to, but distinct from, the HPV types in the probe) in such lesions. The increase in the detection rate in vulvar lesions that lacked koilocytotic atypia with PCR compared with in situ hybridization suggests that about one third of such lesions are HPV related, but that in such cases the copy number of the virus is typically below the threshold of the in situ analysis.