Treatment of recalcitrant common warts with a ciclopirox-containing lacquer

Background and Objectives. Anti-inflammatory actions of ciclopirox,an antif ungal agent, have been described previously. We assessed the effectiveness of ciclopirox in the treatment of viral warts. Patients/Methods. Twenty-three immunocompetent patients (age 9-61 years) wi th com mon warts at the hands, feet and in the face resistant to convention al therapy were treated. Following keratolysis with a salicylic acid-contai ning patch, an 8% ciclopirox lacquer was applied 1-2 times daily. At the be ginning and the end of the treatment lesions were photographed and the time span (minimum 4 weeks) until complete resolution was documented. Results. In 7 patients complete remission, and in 12 patients partial remis sion was achieved. Only 4 patients did not show any effect under topical ci clopirox treatment (mean duration of therapy 3.2 +/-2.1 months). The overal l response rate was 82.6%. Local side effects like erythema or pruritus wer e not reported. Conclusion. Our data suggest that a ciclopirox lacquer may be helpful in th e treatment of com mon warts. However, the data have to be confirmed in a r andomized controlled trial in the future.