Genital Warts In Women (cont.)
What are the symptoms of genital warts?
In many cases genital warts do not cause any symptoms, but they are sometimes
associated with itching, burning, or tenderness. They may result in localized
irritation, depending upon their anatomic location. Women who have genital warts
inside the vagina may experience bleeding following sexual intercourse or an
abnormal vaginal discharge. Rarely, bleeding or urinary obstruction may occur if
the wart involves the urethral opening.
How is HPV infection diagnosed?
HPV sometimes can be suspected by changes that
appear on a pap smear, since pap
smears identify infected abnormal cells that may be precursors to cancer. While
HPV infection can lead to precancerous changes in the cervix that are recognized
on the pap smear, the pap smear itself cannot definitely establish the diagnosis
of HPV infection, unless special testing for the DNA of HPV is carried out on the material obtained from the pap smear. When there is
an abnormal pap smear, the doctor often will do advanced testing on the material
to determine if, and which kind, of HPV may be present. HPV also can be detected
if a biopsy (for example, from a genital wart or from the uterine cervix) is
sent to the laboratory for analysis.
How are genital warts diagnosed?
Genital warts are fairly common; approximately 500,000 new cases of genital
warts are diagnosed each year in the U.S. A typical appearance of a genital wart
may prompt the physician to treat without further testing, especially in someone
who has had prior outbreaks of genital warts. Genital warts usually appear as
small, fleshy, raised bumps, but they sometimes can be extensive and have a
cauliflower-like appearance. They may occur on any sexually-exposed area. Over 90% of
genital warts are caused by HPV-6 and HPV-11, the so-called "low risk" HPV
types.
Next: How is infection with HPV treated? »
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