liz2229
01-19-2009, 08:00 PM
I'm a little confused about something that happened to me. I had an abnormal pap a 4 years ago and never really problems from it. Last year my gynecologist diagnosed me with genital warts and I was treated for them. My last pap was in July and it was normal. I saw a nurse practitioner in September because I had this weird clump of skin on the inside of my vagina, which I thought was scarring from the tca treatment, however the nurse practitioner told me it was genital warts that had gotten worse.
I told her I didn't understand because my pap was normal and wouldn't it have detected HPV which causes the warts and she said that didn't matter. I didn't have any new sexual partners after my pap so I wouldn't have been exposed to the the warts after my pap smear. Is it possible that I still have HPV and genital warts even though my pap came back normal?
Thankns
I told her I didn't understand because my pap was normal and wouldn't it have detected HPV which causes the warts and she said that didn't matter. I didn't have any new sexual partners after my pap so I wouldn't have been exposed to the the warts after my pap smear. Is it possible that I still have HPV and genital warts even though my pap came back normal?
Thankns
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Drafly
01-19-2009, 08:48 PM
Genital warts are caused by HPV types 6 and 11. HPV is a virus and once you have it, you have it for life. It may go into dormancy (remission) and show up years later. HPv 6 and 11 are considered low risk HPV while other types are considered high risk such as 16/18, 31/33/35 and many others. These high risk types of HPV can cause cancer anywhere in the genital tract, this includes the cervix, vagina, vulva, and even anal area. A PAP only tests for abnormal changes within the cells. Only if there are abnormal changes does the doctor then typically go on to do further testing to determine HPV involvement. You can have both high and low risk HPV and you can have them anywhere. Just because there was no abnormality on your PAP doesn't mean you can't have HPV lesions elsewhere whether high or low risk types. The only way to determine the type of HPV you have is through biopsy and testing for HPV DNA. Hope this helps.
Thisby
01-19-2009, 11:27 PM
wouldn't it have detected HPV which causes the wartsNo, the PAP would have been looking for changes in your cervical cells. It isn't in itself an HPV test. Cervical cell changes and genital warts are caused by different strains of hpv. Warts are usually diagnosed visually, which they may not have noticed or even looked for when you had your PAP.