Male partners of women with genital human papillomavirus infection. An assessment of colposcopic abnormalities by histological examination and human papillomavirus hybridization.

Men whose female sexual partners showed histological evidence of human papillomavirus infection were examined. Human papillomavirus DNA was identified in 29 of 35 biopsy samples of colposcopically-identified penile lesions. Human papillomavirus strains that were related to human papillomavirus genotypes 6/11 were observed most commonly (seven of eight patients) in the partners of patients with warty atypia or condylomata, while human papillomavirus strains that were related to human papillomavirus genotypes 16/18 were most-commonly (eight of 15 patients) observed in tissue from the partners of patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Measurement of human papillomavirus DNA in lesions by the filter in-situ hybridization technique more-frequently indicated human papillomavirus infection (29 of 35 lesions) than did conventional histopathological assessment (21 of 35 lesions) in this "high-risk" group. We conclude that colposcopically-identifiable lesions in male sexual partners are likely to contain human papillomavirus DNA, even if is no definite histological evidence of human papillomavirus infection is present, and that such lesions frequently contain strains of human papillomavirus that have been associated with the development of anogenital carcinoma.