Prevalence of condylomatous atypia and human papilloma virus antigen in cervical biopsies in 1972 and 1983.

To compare the frequency of pure condylomas and condylomatous atypia in cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia in 1972 and 1983, two equally sized consecutive series of specimens from the uterine cervix were reviewed. The 1972 material contained only 5 cases of pure condyloma, all of these being flat lesions, while the 1983 material contained 33 pure condylomas, 23 flat and 10 papillomatous cases. The prevalence of cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia with condylomatous atypia was significantly greater in the 1983 material. In both years, condylomatous atypia was more frequent in intra-epithelial neoplasia of lower degrees, and patients with intra-epithelial neoplasia with condylomatous atypia were younger than patients with neoplasia only. The proportion of patients with cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia with condylomatous atypia showing positive reaction for HPV-Ag was also larger in the 1983 material. The results are discussed, especially regarding the possible role of HPV infection in cervical carcinogenesis and the increasing rate of invasive carcinoma of the cervix, observed during recent years.