Cervical papillomavirus infection and intraepithelial neoplasia: a study of male sexual partners

Abstract

The male sexual partners of 34 women with cervical condyloma or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) were examined for penile condylomata and/or urinary tract lesions. External lesions were detected in 18 (53%) of the male consorts of women with cervical lesions including 14 of 22 whose consorts had cervical condyloma or low grade CIN, one of six whose consorts had CIN 2, and three of six whose consorts had CIN 3. The majority of lesions were present either on the glands or the penile shaft, and one patient had a lesion in the urethral meatus. The urinary cytology specimens from the men with and without penile lesions contained nonspecific abnormalities consisting of squamous metaplasia with mild degrees of cytologic atypia. Koilocytotic atypia characteristic of condyloma was not found except in cases with documented distal urethral condylomata. Hence, at present the diagnosis of human papillomavirus infection in the man is best made by careful clinical examination. Whether or not papillomavirus resides deep in the urinary tract of these patients remains to be determined.