Morphometric evaluation and nonclassical criteria for the diagnosis of HPV infection and cytological atypia in cervical samples.

Abstract

Herein, we evaluated cervical samples from normal tissue or HPV-infected tissue, to determine if the relative nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio (NA/CA) and the presence of nonclassical cytological criteria are a novel cytological criterion for the diagnosis of HPV. Significantly, larger NA/CA ratios were found for the HPV−ATYPIA+ and HPV+ATYPIA+ groups compared with HPV−ATYPIA− group, regardless of collection method. For the samples collected with a spatula, only three samples from the HPV−ATIPIA− group showed four or more nonclassical parameters (i.e., were positive), while a larger number of the samples in the HPV−ATYPIA+, HPV+ATYPIA−, and HPV+ATYPIA+ groups were positive (13, 4, and 13 samples, respectively). Among those collected with a brush, no sample showed four or more nonclassical criteria in the HPV−ATYPIA− group, while a number of samples were positive in the HPV−ATYPIA+, HPV+ATYPIA−, and HPV+ATYPIA+ groups (4, 3, and 4 samples, respectively). HPV infection was associated with significant morphometrical changes; no increase in the NA/CA ratio was found in the HPV+ATYPIA- samples, compared with the HPV−ATIPIA− samples collected with either a spatula or a brush. In conclusion, by including nonclassical cytological criteria into the patient diagnosis, we were able to reduce the number of false negative and false positive HPV diagnoses made using conventional cytology alone. Diagn. Cytopathol.