Successful treatment of verruca plantaris with a single sublesional injection of interferon-alpha 2a

Abstract

Interferons are molecules with antiviral effects, which have been used for the treatment of verruca for many years. To determine if sublesional interferon (IFN)-alpha injection offers an effective alternative treatment for common warts. We compared the results of single-dose sublesional IFN application in different types of verruca and with placebo for the treatment of single verruca plantaris lesions. In total, 53 patients (mean age 22.6 years) were enrolled in the study. Of these, 45 patients received a single sublesional injection of 4.5 MU IFN-alpha 2a (three study groups), and eight patients with single verruca plantaris lesions were injected with physiological saline as placebo (control group). As local anaesthesia, liquid nitrogen was sprayed only on to the injection site for 3-4 s. The injection was made directly under the lesion through the border of the lesion, at with approximately a 45 degrees angle from healthy skin. At the 12-month follow-up in the group of patients with single verruca plantaris, there were 19 complete cures (7.2%) and 2 partial responses (8.3%), and 3 patients (12.5%) had no response. In the control group, only 2 patients (25%) had a partial response to treatment. These results suggest that a single sublesional dose of 4.5 MU IFN-alpha may be of value in the treatment of patients with verruca, especially in those with single verruca plantaris lesions.