Evidence that human papillomavirus causes inverted papilloma is sparse.

Background: Controversy exists regarding the pathogenesis of inverted papilloma as it relates to the involvement of human papillomavirus (HPV). The purpose of this report is to describe the prevalence of HPV in nondysplastic, "early inverted papilloma" and to summarize HPV detection rates in the general population and in other HPV related neoplasia.

Methods: This case series report characterizes consecutive inverted papilloma patients from January 2005 to August 2012 with regard to smoking history, dysplasia, and HPV detection rates. Presence or absence of low/high risk HPV was determined by standardized in situ hybridization DNA probes. Medline literature review was performed to determine the prevalence of HPV in inverted papilloma without moderate or severe dysplasia.

Results: Thirty-six consecutive patients were identified with an average age of 63.6 (range, 40-84) years; gender: 23 men, 13 women. More than half (55%) were active or former smokers (14% active and 41% former). High/low risk HPV was present in 1 in 36 (2.7%) patients and 1 in 36 (2.7%) had mild dysplasia. In the literature review: (1) HPV was detected in 16.4% of inverted papilloma without dysplasia; (2) oral cavity HPV detection was 4.2% to 11.4% in the normal population; and (3) HPV was normally detected in 85% to 95% of HPV-related neoplasia.

Conclusion: Given histological features of inverted papilloma and comparatively low detection rates of HPV in inverted papilloma without dysplasia (2.7%), as well as the summary of the world literature, HPV is not related to the initial pathogenesis of inverted papilloma or inverted papilloma's tendency to persist or recur. It is postulated that since inverted papilloma is more an inflammatory polyp, it is susceptible to secondary HPV infection because of its metaplasia. Tobacco and other causes of respiratory epithelium remodeling are more plausible explanations for the initial tissue transformation to inverted papilloma.