[Therapy of penile viral condylomata with 0.5% podophyllotoxin]

Twenty male patients with penile warts (HPV induced papular and flat condylomata) attending the Venereal Disease Clinic at the Department of Dermatology, University di Pavia were treated with podophyllotoxin 0.5% in ethanol, self applied twice daily for 3 consecutive days, followed by 4 days without treatment. All the patients were cured after a maximum of 6 treatments; 10 patients (50%) were cured after 1 or 2 treatments. Three patients did not attend regularly at the control visits; 17 patients completed the study. Eight of the 17 patients (47.1%) showed recurrences of the warts; all of them were cured after successive podophyllotoxin treatments. Tolerance was good and only a few patients (30%) had mild adverse reactions. In conclusion podophyllotoxin 0.5% appeared to be safe and effective for the self treatment of genital warts.