How to check for male genital warts?

Male genital warts are extremely harmful diseases. Warts growing on the genitals are mostly venereal warts, also known as condyloma acuminatum. It is difficult to diagnose the disease at first. Patients need to rely on the results of examinations when making a diagnosis. So how to examine male genital warts? The examination that patients need to do is a pathological examination. There are many ways to examine. There are two main types of examinations that men need to do, while for women, it is more subdivided and the number of examination items will increase.

1. Tissue pathological changes

The epidermis shows papilloma-like hyperplasia and thickening of the stratum spinosum. There is mild hyperkeratosis and parakeratosis on the surface. Vacuolated cells can be seen in the spinous cells and granular layer. The cell body is relatively large, with a round dark-stained nucleus, perinuclear vacuolation, light staining, and filaments connecting the nuclear membrane and the plasma membrane, making the cells look like cat eyes. Vacuolated cells are characteristic of condylar warts, and are more obvious in the middle and upper layers of the spinous cells. The superficial dermis is infiltrated with moderate density around the blood vessels, mainly lymphocytes, and plasma cell infiltration can also be seen. The blood vessels in the papillary dermis are dilated, and the papillae are widened and extended upward.

2. Acetobacterial test

Wrap or apply gauze soaked in 3% to 5% acetic acid solution to the suspected skin or mucosal surface and remove it after 3 to 5 minutes. Typical lesions of condyloma acuminatum will appear as white papules or warts, while subclinical infection will appear as white patches or spots. The acetowhite test is a simple and easy examination method for identifying early lesions of condyloma acuminatum and subclinical infection. It is a very useful means to detect subclinical infection that has not yet shown visible changes to the naked eye. The acetowhite test is simple and easy to perform and should be used as a routine examination method for patients with condyloma acuminatum to help determine the extent of the lesions and guide treatment. However, the acetowhite test is not a specific test and may give false positive results in cases of epithelial cell hyperplasia or epithelial cells that have just healed from trauma.

3. Colposcopy

A colposcope is a special magnifying glass, which is mainly used to observe the cervical vaginal mucosa and can be used to examine the vulva and vaginal epithelium. The colposcope can magnify the cervical appearance by 20 to 40 times, which is very helpful for the early detection and early diagnosis of subclinical infection and precancerous lesions of the cervical epithelium. Patients should avoid vaginal douching and sexual intercourse within 24 hours before the examination. Applying a gauze soaked in 3% to 5% acetic acid solution to the cervix for 3 minutes and then examining it with a colposcope will help detect subclinical infection of HPV. For white patches or spots with clear boundaries, further samples should be taken for histopathological examination. Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) can be divided into 3 grades.

4. Cytological Examination

It is mainly used to check whether the female vaginal or cervical epithelium is infected with HPV. Cells are scraped from the examined area and smeared on a glass slide, fixed with 95% alcohol; the Papanicolaou staining method is commonly used, and the findings under the microscope are divided into five levels: Level I is normal; Level II is inflammation; Level III is suspected cancer; Level IV is highly suspected cancer; and Level V is cancer. Level II is further divided into IIa and IIb. IIa is inflammatory cells; IIb contains a few mildly heterogeneous cells in addition to inflammatory cells. Cases with smears showing IIb should be followed up and checked regularly. To determine whether there is HPV infection, specific anti-HPV antibodies are required for histochemical staining or in situ hybridization technology.

How to check male genital warts? Colposcopy is for females, but other tests can also be done by males. Although cytology is for female cervix, males can also do this test when checking for sexually transmitted diseases, because sexually transmitted diseases can be infected, and the increased chance of infection will harm other male genitals. When the patient is examined, the abnormal symptoms of the organs should be observed, and they should be distinguished from similar diseases when making judgments, so that the diagnosis will be more accurate.