External application or wet application of 3% ~ 5% acetic acid solution for 5 ~ 10 minutes can make the infected area of human papillomavirus turn white, which is called "white acetic acid phenomenon". However, the specificity is not high, and some chronic inflammation, such as candidal vulvitis, genital trauma and nonspecific inflammation, can appear false positive.

2. Cytological examination

Vaginal or cervical wart tissue smear and Pap staining can simultaneously see two kinds of cells, namely vacuolar cells and poorly keratinized cells, which have diagnostic value for condyloma acuminatum.

3. Histopathological examination

If vacuole cells appear above the spinous layer and granular layer, it is an important evidence to diagnose human papillomavirus infection.

4. Immunological test

Detection of human papillomavirus antigen in diseased tissues with anti-human papillomavirus antibody. This method is insensitive, and the detection rate is only about 50%.

5. Nucleic acid hybridization test

It is an important means to detect human papillomavirus infection, including dot blot hybridization, tissue in situ hybridization and Southern hybridization. These methods have high specificity and sensitivity, and are sensitive and reliable methods for diagnosing human papillomavirus infection. However, the technical operation is complicated and has not been widely carried out in clinic.

6. Polymerase chain reaction

It is the most sensitive method to detect human papillomavirus infection at present, and can also be used for type-specific analysis, which has the characteristics of high sensitivity and simple and rapid method. It has been widely used in clinic.