Evidence of the presence of papilloma virus (PV) in a group of cases of mild cervical dysplasia raises the intriguing question of whether the same virus that is responsible for vulvar condyloma acuminatum is involved in at least some cases of cervical dysplasia.
The possibility of venereal transmission has caused many investigators to theorize a connection between cervical dysplasia and herpes simplex virus, but no one has been able to demonstrate that connection.
According to Kishor H. Shah, MD, assistant professor of pathology at Loyola University of Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, the inability to make a connection with the herpesvirus has led several groups to look for another agent, and while the morphological changes seen in precursor lesions have not been of the herpes type, they do support a possible role for PV.
Using a method of immunoperoxidase localization of the viral antigen, Shah's group demonstrated the presence of