Diagnostic techniques in HPV infections and the need to implement them in plantar lesions: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Human papillomavirus has been reported as the etiological cause of most cervical cancers and other potentially malignant lesions. It also affects other areas, producing benign tumors on the skin. Plantar warts are a common problem found in clinical practice and share signs and symptoms with other dermatological conditions. Diagnosis of HPV infection remains a hot topic in research.

Method

The present work systematically reviews the literature on the diagnostic techniques available in the clinical setting for any type of lesion produced by the virus and compares the techniques identified to those found in use for foot lesions.

Results

Results showed a variety of diagnostic methods, including molecular techniques, which exhibit more sensitivity than other methods but are less frequently applied to plantar lesions, where visual inspection is the most frequent method but can lead to errors.

Conclusion

The techniques identified need to be applied to plantar lesions to improve differential diagnosis in clinical practice.

Expert opinion

Research will continue to grow and a proper diagnostic technique for plantar lesions will be available in the near future.

KEYWORDS:

• Diagnosis
• HPV
• PCR
• plantar warts
• podiatry
• differential diagnosis

ARTICLE highlights

• DNA tests provide consistent results for sensitivity and specificity over other methods.

• Fourteen types of outcomes from HPV infections were found using any of the 10 diagnostic methods reviewed.

• Five diagnostic methods were found for HPV plantar lesions, but a lack of research on molecular diagnosis is evident.

• Research in diagnostic methods keeps growing toward combining molecular diagnosis and new technologies.

• The results reveal a clear lack of an infallible diagnostic method for foot lesions.

Acknowledgments

The special acknowledgment goes to Fundación Valhondo-Calaff for their support on the contract for predoctoral researcher Alberto Aldana-Caballero.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers in this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Cao, X., Liu, S., Jia, M., Chen, H., Zhao, D., Dong, B., ... & Sun, X. (2019). Performance of HPV16/18 in Triage of Cytological Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance. Analytical Cellular Pathology, 2019.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.