Medical and Clinical Microbiology

Biography

Biography: E. Petinaki

Abstract

Statement of the problem: Cholesteatoma is a non neoplastic cystic tumor of the middle ear.  Although there is no clear evidence of the pathogenesis of cholesteatoma, there is a possibility a lot of microorganisms, especially Human Papilloma Virus, play  a significant role in certain types of cholesteatoma. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of HPV genome in the middle ear cavity of patients with cholesteatoma, and to identify the different HPV subtypes. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Specimens of cholesteatoma tissue from  62 patients, during the period 2002-2017, were studied.  After the abstraction of the DNA from Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded Tissue (FFPET), viral detection and identification of the different HPV subtypes (6 ,11 ,16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 68) has been assessed by the method of real time polymerase chain reaction (Real-Time PCR). Findings: Among 62 patients with cholesteatoma, 30 patients were positive for HPV genome (48,3%). Specifically, 28 out of 62 patients were positive for the high risk HPV types 16, 18, 31, 51, 59 (45,1%), and 9 out of 62 patients were positive for low risk HPV types 6 (14.5%). Co-presence of more than one subtypes was detected in seven patients. Actually, 25 patients were found with HPV16, one with HPV 18, one with HPV 31, one with HPV 51, one with HPV 59 and nine with HPV6. Conclusion & Significance: Even though cholesteatoma is a very complex disease with different types and many possible pathogenetic mechanisms, the high percentage of HPV genome in the middle ear cavity of patients with cholesteatoma suggests that there is a strong connection between HPV infection and the development of cholesteatoma. Probably HPV infection is not the etiologic factor of of cholesteatoma, but there is a high possibility that HPV infection of middle ear cavity assists in the development of cholesteatoma.