Cytomorphologic Features According to HPV DNA Type in Histologically Proven Cases of the Uterine Cervix

Abstract

Background: This study investigated whether human papillomavirus (HPV) genotype is related to koilocytic changes in cervical cytology and histology, and what factors cause discrepancies among cytology, HPV DNA chip tests, and biopsies. Methods: We examined 174 of 949 cases histologically confirmed by both cytology and HPV DNA chip testing. We analyzed koilocytic changes in cytology and biopsies according to HPV genotype. Results: HPV-16 significantly coincided with nuclear size variation and hyperchromasia, although the cytomorphologic features correlated with other HPV genotypes were not statistically significant. By analyzing 68 cases in which there were discrepancies between the HPV DNA chip test and histological results, we confirmed that artifacts or glycogen acanthosis resulted in the over-diagnoses of four HPV-negative cases with normal cytology. Four diagnostic errors and four sampling errors were present in eight HPV-positive cases. The degree of nuclear size variation significantly influenced the cytologically under-diagnosed cases (p=0.006). Conclusions: Other than HPV-16, HPV genotype exhibited no cytological or histological differences. The discrepancy between the results of HPV DNA chip test and histology was created by glycogen acanthosis, immature squamous metaplasia, artifacts, and sampling errors.