Pap cytopathology and the presence of high-risk human papillomavirus in SurePath™ liquid preservative and Digene cervical sampler specimens

The Digene Hybrid Capture 2 (HC2) assay for high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) identified 92 (28.7%) infected women by testing 320 SurePath liquid-based Pap samples and a hybrid capture 2 (HC2) sampler collection. HPV positivity was predictive for high-grade lesions. A majority of women had normal cervical readings although 15.8% were HPV-positive. Half of the patients with a reading of atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) (n=16) were HPV-positive.