Hybrid capture as a tool for cervical lesions screening in HIV-infected women: insights from a Brazilian cohort

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IntroductionCervical cancer remains an important burden for HIV-infected women in the era of combination antiretroviral therapy. Recommendations for cervical screening in these women diverge and may include high-risk HPV (HRHPV) testing. We aimed to evaluate the clinical usefulness of a single HRHPV testing for cervical screening of HIV-infected women. Methods723 HIV-infected women from a Brazilian prospective cohort were included between 1996 and 2012. Inclusion criteria were: normal cervical cytology at baseline and having a HRHPV-test at baseline. We calculated incidence rates of any squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) and high grade SIL+ (HSIL+) and negative predictive values (NPV) within 12 and 36 months. Hazard Ratios were obtained using Cox proportional hazards regression models. ResultsIncidence rate for both outcomes was low (9.9 cases per 100 PY [95% CI 8.8–11.0] for any SIL and 1.3 cases per 100 PY [95% IC 0.9–1.8] for HSIL+). Women with a HRHPV positive status at baseline had 1.7-fold (95% CI 1.3–2.2) and 3.2-fold (95% CI 1.5–7.1) increased risk of presenting any SIL and HSIL+, respectively, during follow-up. Negative-HRHPV test presented high NPV for both periods and outcomes (any SIL: 92.4% [95% CI 89.7–94.6] for 12 months and 80.9% [95% CI 77.2–84.3] for 36 months; and HSIL+: 99.8% [95% CI 98.9–100.0] for 12 months and 99.0 [95% CI 97.6–99.7] for 36 months). ConclusionsIncidence of any and high grade cytological abnormality was significantly higher among HIV-infected women with positive-HRHPV test. A single negative-HRHPV test helped reassure follow-up free of cytological abnormalities through three years of follow-up in HIV-infected women with negative cytology.