Successful treatment of recalcitrant condyloma with topical cidofovir

Editor,—Despite the high prevalence of condylomata acuminata, their treatment remains unsatisfactory for both patients and physicians. Epidemiological studies estimated the prevalence of genital warts between 1–31% with a peak occurring in young adults.1 As a consequence, the economic burden of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the United States is estimated to exceed $8.5 billion per year.2 Current treatments rely on the ablation of warts (cryotherapy, laser vaporisation, electrodissection, or trichloroacetic acid) or the interruption of cell division (podophylox, intralesional or systemic interferon, and 5-fluorouracil). Recently, imiquimod has been successfully used as a topical immune response modifier for the treatment of external anogenital warts.3 However, there remains a substantial number of patients who fail to respond …