LSIL

Hi

I had my pap smear a month ago and the results came back abnormal. My gyna mentioned that I have HPV but they didn't check whether it's high-risk or low-risk. I did some research about HPV, I don't/never had all the signs/symptoms mentioned about this HPV. The reason I ended up doing a pap-smear is that I had a problem with my menstrual cycle, it sometimes go non-stop since 1999 (i  was 16) and it will be very heavy. At that time when it started I was still a virgin, thus I find it hard to believe that it's HPV (though i might be wrong). Is there a connection between bleeding a lot and HPV? Even if it was HPV back then I think it should have cleared by now. And are all HPV cases due to sexually transmitted virus? Please help I am a bit confused now, as to whether my HPV was sexually transmitted or there is a possibility that it wasn't sexually transmitted. At the moment yes I do have a problem.

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
HPV is VERY confusing!  It is difficult to explain, and I am never quite sure my patients "get it"!
If you were my patient, I would probably tell you the following:
Yes, you probably do have HPV.  You most likely have a high risk strain because it is causing abnormal findings on your pap.  It is impossible to tell when you contracted the virus, and it could have been years ago.  There is no conection between HPV and your heavy bleeding--they are most likely separate issues.  Not all cases of HPV are sexually transmitted, but the vast majority are.  Almost everyone who is/has been sexually active has been exposed--it is extremely common.

If my patients have a pap with LSIL, my next step is to proceed with colposcopy and biopsies.  If that exam confirms only low grade disease, I am usually content to "watch" and recommend paps every six months or so.

I hope this helps explain!

Good luck!
Dr B