Abstract
Cigarette smoking may decrease serum levels of vitamin D and reduce its efficacy. We aimed to
evaluate the safety and efficacy of intralesional vitamin D in the treatment of warts and to
investigate the effect of smoking on its efficacy in these cases. The study included 20 patients
with verruca vulgaris and deep palmoplantar warts. The wart to be injected was cleaned by alcohol
and then injected with 0.1 mL of prilocaine (20 mg/mL). 0.2 mL of vitamin D3 (7.5 mg/mL)
solution was slowly injected into the base of each wart. The maximum total amount of vitamin
D3 injected into a patient in one session was 7.5 mg. The injection was done at 4 weeks interval
until clearance or for a maximum of two sessions. Clinical and dermoscopic follow-up of the
treated and distant warts was carried out. Forty percent of the treated lesions showed complete
clearance and the rate of distant wart response was 17.65%. Among different demographic and
clinical variables in the studied patients, smoking and older age seemed to decrease the therapeutic
response Intralesional vitamin D is effective in the treatment of warts, however, smoking
and aging may reduce its efficacy. |
