The value of 5% topical imiquimod cream for the treatment of flat warts in a sample of Iraqi patients

Abstract

Flat warts are mainly caused by HPV type 3 and 10. The condition is usually seen in young people in visible skin areas such as the back of hands, face, and forehead. Medical treatment may be prolonged in some situations for months and rarely for years making patients unsatisfactory Surgical approaches such as electrocoagulation, cryosurgery, and laser are used when medical treatment fails to control the disease, but surgical removal carries the risk of scar formation and is usually costly. The current study was planned and carried out to evaluate the response of plane warts to 5% imiquimod cream in a sample of Iraqi patients with plane warts. The present cohort study included 20 patients with plane warts. Those patients were selected from the pool of patients visiting the dermatology consultation unit at Al-Diwaniyah teaching hospital, Al-Diwaniyah Province, Iraq during the period from September 2018 through June 2019. Age, gender, and duration of disease were the main variables included in the study; the outcome was a response to treatment classified as complete, partial, and incomplete. All patients were treated by topically applied 5% imiquimod cream once daily and were followed up for a period of time, ranging from 2 weeks to 12 weeks. The results of the current study revealed that treatment duration and response to treatment is shown in table 2. Mean duration of treatment was 7.95 ±3.33 weeks, and it ranged from 2 to 12 weeks. Complete response was seen in 60 %, partial response was identified in 30 %, and no response was the outcome in 10 % of patients. Treatment response was not correlated to the age or gender of patients, but longer duration of disease predicted poor response to treatment. In view of available data in the current study and in previous reports, 5% topical imiquimod cream appears to be an efficient and safe mode of treatment for flat warts.