Background: Verruca is one of the common dermatopathologies which has multiple therapeutic options but with variable success rates, refractory cases and high recurrence rates. Nowadays, treatment with intralesional injections has gained recognition due to its effectiveness in clearing verrucae. These act by stimulating the cell-mediated immunity. Out of scores of options available for intralesional therapeutics, Vitamin D3 appears to be more promising but least evaluated. Therefore, we planned to evaluate the efficacy of intralesional Vitamin D3 in various types of cutaneous verrucae. Simultaneously the results were compared with intralesional bleomycin, also.
Methods: A total of 200 patients of cutaneous verrucae with varying size and duration were included in the experimental randomized comparative study. We divided them into two groups. Group A, comprising of 100 patients, received 0.2-0.5 ml intralesional Vitamin D3 (600,000 IU, 15mg/ml) and Group B, also of hundred subjects, received intralesional Bleomycin (1 mg/ml) into the base of verrucae. A maximum of 5 verrucae were injected per session at 3 weeks interval until resolution or for a maximum of 4 sessions. Patients were followed up for 6 months after the last injection to assess the clearance status and detect any recurrence.
Results: In Group A (Vitamin D3), 'Complete response', 'Partial response' and 'No response' were observed in 85.07%, 6.74% and 8.17% respectively after 4 sessions. Recurrence rate was 0.81% after 6 months. In Group B (Bleomycin), 'Complete response', 'Partial response' and 'No response' were found in 77.99%, 10.47% and 11.53% in the series. Recurrence rate was 1.71%, comparatively higher in group B.
Conclusion: The efficacy of intralesional Vitamin D3 was found significantly higher as compared to intralesional Bleomycin in the treatment of cutaneous verrucae with less recurrence rates. Vitamin D3 has an additional advantage of cost-effective treatment over Bleomycin. We purpose its use, as a primary mode of treatment in various types of cutaneous verrucae.
Keywords: Bleomycin, Vitamin D3, Verrucae.
A Comparative Study of the Recurrence Rate in Hypofractionated versus Conventional Postmastectomy Radiation in Breast Cancer
