Oral Manifestations of Human Papillomavirus Infection

Objectives: Human papilloma virus belongs to the papillomaviridae family. It replicates in the squamous epithelial cell nucleus. The capsids of the different types of HPV are antigenically similar, thus their classification is based on their DNA sequence; there are more than 200 types of HPV classified as high, medium and low risk. HPV is known as a risk factor for developing oropharyngeal cancer and it can as well infect the oral mucosa, causing various diseases such as Focal Epithelial Hyperplasia, Verruca vulgaris and Condyloma Acuminata, recognize as a sexually transmitted infection (STI). In most cases, HPV infections are commonly asymptomatic or concur with mild symptoms making diagnosis difficult. The aim of the present study is to describe the most common epidemiological clinical characteristics in the oral cavity of HPV infection and its molecular typing.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted in 52 patients who attended the stomatology services of the University of Cartagena and the Aleman Hospital in Buenos Aires; a complete clinical history was carried out, including stomatological examination, biopsy, pathological study and real-time PCR test for HPV typing.
Results: Of the 52 studied patients, 32.7% were men and 67.3% were women; with a predominant age between 50-59 years (21.15%). The most common serotype found was HPV 6 (40.74%) followed by HPV 11 (33.33%) and other types of HPV (25.91%) (± 0.02%). The predominant lesion was the wart (61.67%), the most common location was the lingual lateral border and the dorsal surface of the tongue (16.7% each); the most predominantly found pathology was Condyloma Acuminata (74.07%).
Conclusions: It is crucial for the health professional to know the epidemiological behavior of these infections in the oral cavity in order to make correctly identification and establish a timely treatment, thus providing an integral atenttion in the patiens