Comparison of Pap smear and Multiplex-PCR methods for detection of Human Papillomavirus isolated from women with cervical lesions

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HPV) is the main cause of cervical cancer in women. Early diagnosis and immediate treatment are very helpful. Detection of this infection by traditional methods, such as pap smear, are very inadequate. This study was aimed to evaluate the HPV infection in women with cervical wounds using Multiplex PCR, and to compare the efficiency of this methods with pap smear.
This cross-sectional study was carried out on 50 samples from patient with cervical wounds attended to Khanevadeh Hospital in Isfahan. After extraction and purification of DNA, 5 types of HPV viruses were identified using Multiplex PCR. At the end, the results of these technique were compared with the results obtained from Pop smear.
Our results showed that 41 samples were positive to different types of HPV infection. All of these strains were detected using Multiplex PCR method. However, only 14 cases were reported positive by pap smear technique.
According to the results, pap smear has high error rate in HPV detection. But Multiplex PCR can provide a rapid, sensitive and affordable method for detection and screening of the viral infection.