Squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) and HPV associated changes in HIV infected women or at risk of HIV

Objectives: The study concerns the prevalence of squamous intraepithelial lesions (SILs) and the specific cervical cytopathological features of a group of HIV-positive and a group of HIV-negative women recruited in a multicentric cohort study. The assessment of HPV-DNA genotypes was carried out in both groups.

Method: 459 women, 266 HIV-positive and 193 HIV-negative women at risk were examined in an Italian multi-institutional study involving 14 gynaecological centres.

Results: In our samples, the risk of SILs was 29.4% for HIV-positive women and 10% for HIV-negative women (O.R. = 3.90, C.I. 95%: 2.20-6.98) while HPV-DNA-PCR genotypes had a high prevalence in both groups of HIV-positive and HIV-negative women. Cytopathological features of SILs in HIV-positive women were: a higher number of koilocytes and a more marked atypia of high grade neoplastic cells.

Conclusions: A higher prevalence of SILs as well as a specific cervical cytopathology might suggest HIV infection.

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