Association between human papillomavirus infection and atypical cervical squamous cells

Abstract

Introduction. The aim of the study was to confirm the association between human papillomavirus infection and atypical cervical squamous cells. Material and Methods. This cross-sectional study, conducted in the period from January 2016 to June 2017, included 128 sexually active women, aged 20 to 59 years with squamous cell abnormalities of the cervical cytology, who came to their annual gynecological exam at the University Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics in Skopje. All patients underwent human papillomavirus testing and colposcopy cervical biopsy with endocervical curettage for histopathological analysis. Results. Data analysis showed an increase in the human papillomavirus infection alongside with cytological (p = 0.029296) and histopathological (p = 0.029443) increasing grades of cervical lesions. It showed an association between the oncogenic potential of the virus and the cytological (p = 0.000086) and histopathological (p = 0.00001) grades of cervical lesions. A human papillomavirus infection was detected in 75.00% of the examined women. The relationship between the prevalence of high-risk and low-risk human papillomavirus genotypes was 56.25%: 10.94%. Mixed human papillomavirus infection was detected in 32.03% of all patients, in 42.71% of human papillomavirus positive patients. The most common human papillomavirus genotypes, in descending order, were human papillomavirus-16 (43.75%), human papillomavirus-31 (15.62%), human papillomavirus-18 10.4%), human papillomavirus-45 (9.37%), human papillomavirus-33 (7.29%), etc. Conclusion. This study has confirmed an association between human papillomavirus infection and squamous cell abnormalities of the uterine cervix. Young women under 30 years of age were the most affected group.