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Objectives: The aim of the present study was too investigate prevalence and persistence of human papilloma virus (HPV) and cytological abnormalities (CAs) in the anal swabs of people living with HIV (PLWH): men who have sex with men (MSM), men who have sex with women (MSW) and women (W). Methods: Between March 2010 and January 2019, an anal swab for cytological and HPV genotyping tests was offered to all PLWH attending our clinic. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify predictors of infection. Results: In all, 354 PLWH were screened: 174 MSM, 90 MSW and 61 W. Prevalence of at least one high-risk (HR) HPV was higher in MSM (91%) and W (85%) than in MSW (77%) (P < 0.05). Cytological abnormalities were found in 21.1% of the entire population. At multivariable regression analysis a lower risk for HPV infection was found for W than for MSM [odds ratio = 0.24 (95% confidence interval: 0.115–0.513)] and for MSW than for MSM [0.37 (0.180–0.773)] and there was a significantly higher risk of CAs in PLWH with HPV 16 and 18 [3.3 (1.04–10.49)]. A total of 175 PLWH (103 MSM, 33 MSW and 26 W) had at least one follow-up visit (T1) after a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.6 (2.1–5.7) years. The acquisition rate of HR-HPV was high, with 66.7% of PLWH negative for HR-HPV at T0 who became positive at T1 (P < 0.001). The prevalence of CAs was stable (20.6%). A significant association between CAs at T1 and persistence of HPV-16 and/or 18 was found (P < 0.05). Conclusions: HPV 16 and 18 are associated with the presence and development of CAs irrespective of sexual orientation.

This report describes a malignant neoplasia of the pineal region in a 65-year-old woman who presented with symptoms of intracranial hypertension and dissemination to CSF with radiologically documented lumbar intradural localizations. The histological examination of the lesion showed fragments of a cystic malignant neoplasia with epithelial elements resembling squamous cell carcinoma. We excluded the possibility of a cerebral metastasis from a squamous cell carcinoma arising in the genital or gastrointestinal tract, lung and skin. We propose this unique report for cyto- histological correlation and, as suggested in the American and Japanese literature, we discuss the hypothesis of the development of a squamous cell carcinoma arising from the malignant degeneration of a cerebral epidermoid cyst and we show by cytological examination of the CSF the exceptional presence of malignant cells and by lumbar MRI their intradural localizations.