Thursday 22 October 2009

Pearly penile papules

A recently published study by Agha et al. reports that - as suspected by many - pearly penile papules are less frequently found in circumcised men.
The prevalence of PPP was 38.3% in <25 years, and 11.4% in >50 years (P < 0.001). [...] In the younger age group, the prevalence of PPP was 26.5% in circumcised participants, and 42.4% in uncircumcised participants (P < 0.05)

Pearly penile papules (PPP) are small raised bumps that are frequently found around the corona. They're sometimes mistaken for genital warts, and can cause significant embarrassment. Although frequently found in partners of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, there is little evidence of a causative role, and PPP are frequently (it seems) considered harmless.
Agha's findings are consistent with those of Rehbein in 1977, who reported:
there was a significantly increased incidence of pearly penile papules in Negroes and uncircumcised men. [...] The incidence of papules was greatest in young adults and tended to decrease with increasing age.

2 comments:

Victoria V said...

Yes, and cavities are found in 0% of people with dentures. It does not follow that we should pull out everyone's teeth so they can have dentures and avoid cavities.

PPP said...

Yes, PPP is very often mixed with genital warts. Here you can view some Pearly penile papules pictures to confirm this. There is no need for treatment at all, pearly papules are completely harmless.