| Summary: | As various types of human papillomavirus (HPV) are involved in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer, correct diagnosis is of fundamental importance for screening programs. We evaluated the divergence of results between Papanicolaou cytology and hybrid capture by PCR detection of HPV DNA . A transversal study was conducted on 70 women attending private gynecological clinics in Brasilia, Brazil. PCRs were conducted with specific primers for general and high-risk HPV DNA. Based on the PCR results, hybrid capture was a superior diagnostic technique. When Papanicolaou was compared with the molecular biology methods, it was found that a positive Papanicolaou result does not necessarily indicate the presence of HPV. The agreement between PCR and hybrid capture results can be attributed to the fact that both methods detect latent infection, while Papanicolaou detects only microscopic cellular alterations.
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