The cost effectiveness of treatment of genital warts with podophyllotoxin

The cost effectiveness of 25% podophyllin resin and 0.5% podophyllotoxin solution in the treatment of genital warts in Genitourinary Medicine Clinic attenders was studied. Although the average treatment cost for a course of podophyllotoxin was more than that for podophyllin resin (20.75 pounds v. 14.95 pounds respectively) the overall cure rate with podophyllotoxin was 66% as opposed to 34.6% with podophyllin. When the costing of secondary treatment options was considered the cost per patient cured of warts with podophyllin resin was 27.15 pounds compared with 25.73 pounds for podophyllotoxin solution (not significant).