Prevalence of human papillomavirus in spontaneously aborted products of conception

Objective. To compare the prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in placentas from women with spontaneous abortions and from control women after term delivery. Design. Cross-sectional study. Setting. Department of Obstetrics and Pathology of Pregnancy, Medical University of Lublin (Poland). Population. Patients whose spontaneous abortions occurred between the 6th and the 16th week of pregnancy (n=51), and women after term delivery (n=78). Method. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Main outcome measures. HPV DNA prevalence rate and the fraction of HPV 16/18 infections in aborted products of conception and placentas. Results. Patients with spontaneous abortion did not differ from the controls in terms of mean age and the fraction of primiparas. The DNA of HPV was detected in 17.7% of aborted products of conception and in 24.4% of placentas from term deliveries. The aborted products of conception and full-term placentas were positive for HPV 16/18 in 11.8 and 12.8% cases, respectively. Patients whose material was positive for HPV DNA or those with confirmed HPV 16/18 did not differ significantly from HPV-negative women in terms of mean age and the fraction of primiparas. Conclusions. The HPV 16/18 infection rate does not seem be higher in cases of spontaneous abortions. Nevertheless, further study of the consequences of HPV infection in pregnancy is still needed.