In recent years the interest in genital HPV infection has increased, especially because of its supposed association with dysplasia and cancer of the female genital tract. The aim of the study was to evaluate the male partners of women with genital HPV infection, with regard to the possible connections among the clinical features of this infection in both partners. We studied 157 partners of women suffering from HPV genital tract infection. Condylomata acuminata were searched for by visual inspection; subclinical lesions were identified by 5 optical magnification lens after application of 5% acetic acid for 5 minutes. We obtained the following results: 55% of the male partners of women with HPV infection had condylomata, but this percentage decreased to 37% when infection was associated with CIN. Our data stress that transmissibility of infection to the male partner is easier in the presence of condylomata. In fact, partners of women with CIN had the lower percentage of clinical or subclinical HPV skin lesions.
