Multifocal viral epithelial hyperplasia in the elderly with identification of high-risk human papillomavirus Urias-Barreras, Cynthia M. Rodríguez Archilla, Alberto Lagarde-Guerrero, Rogelio Rendon-Maldonado, Jose Guadalupe Multifocal viral epithelial hyperplasia old age HPV31 HPV68 Multifocal viral epithelial hyperplasia (MVEH), also known as focal epithelial hyperplasia or Heck’s disease, is an oral condition associated to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection mainly viral genotypes HPV-13 and 32. MVEH most frequently affects children and especially females. We present a case of MVEH in a Mexican 88-year-old elderly female, with high-risk HPV-31 and -68 confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in addition to low-risk HPV32, and review the literature on MVEH focusing on elderly individuals. We are not aware of another report of high-risk HPV-associated MVEH. It appears that MVEH in elderly affects exclusively the tongue. 2026-01-16T09:24:48Z 2026-01-16T09:24:48Z 2025-05 journal article Urias-Barreras CM, Rodríguez-Archilla A, Lagarde-Guerrero R, Rendón-Maldonado JG. Multifocal viral epithelial hyperplasia in the elderly with identification of high-risk human papillomavirus. J Oral Maxillofac Surg Med Pathol. 2025;37(3):581-586. https://hdl.handle.net/10481/109786 10.1016/j.ajoms.2024.11.002 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ embargoed access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier