Comparative Study of Therapeutic Efficacy of Intralesional Vitamin D3 versus Intralesional Purified Protein Derivative in the Treatment of Refractory Viral Warts at a Tertiary Referral Centre in Northern Maharashtra

Introduction: Warts are benign epidermal proliferations of skin and mucosacaused by human papilloma virus. . There are innumerable treatmentmodalities but they may result in partial clearance or recurrence. Destructivetherapeutic modalities are limited by cost, pain, scarring. Some newer andeffective treatments include intralesional immunotherapy. We undertook astudy to evaluate the safety and efficacy of two such immunotherapynamely tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD) versus intralesional vitaminD3 for the treatment of viral warts. Objective: This study aims to evaluate and compare efficacy of intralesionalvitamin D3 and purified protein derivative (PPD) in treatment of warts. Materials and Methods: It is a prospective hospital based comparativestudy among 20 patients with warts. Patients were randomly and equallydivided. Group A patients were given intralesional vitamin D3 (0.2ml of15mg/ml into each wart) and Group B patients were given intralesional PPD (0.2ml of 5TU/ml into each wart). The injections were repeated every 2weeks until complete clearance. Decrease in size and number of lesionswere evaluated and photographic record was maintained. Patients werefollowed up after 3 months. Unpaired t test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The study found that 7 out of 10 patients (70 %) of Group Ashowed complete response after 4 sessions and 3 patients (30 %) showedmoderate response.8 out of 10 patients (80 %) of Group B showed completeresponse, 1 patients (10 %) showed moderate response, 1 patient (10 %) showed no response. Recurrence was observed in 1 patient after 3 monthswho received vitamin D3. No serious adverse effects were observed. Conclusion: Both vitamin D3 and PPD showed positive results with PPDhaving faster and better efficacy in treatment of multiple common warts.