Effectiveness of the 585nm flashlamp-pulsed tunable dye laser (PTDL) for treatment of plantar verrucae.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to establish the 585 nm flashlamp-pulsed tunable dye laser (PTDL) as a potentially effective modality in the treatment of plantar verrucae. Furthermore, this study attempted to identify if certain regions of the plantar surface yielded a different clearance rate in comparison to others.


METHODS
Thirty-three patients were recruited for this case series study, representing a total of 97 plantar warts. Patients were treated using the flashlamp-PTDL with a pulse duration of 450 microseconds, a spot diameter of 5.0 mm, and energy fluences ranging between 8.1 and 8.4 J/cm2. Patients were followed-up an average of 2-24 weeks assessing for recurrence of verrucae.


RESULTS
Each patient exhibited one to eight plantar lesions. Of the 97 verrucae treated by the flashlamp-PTDL, 68 (70.1%) resolved with 100% clearance of the lesion. The overall mean clearance of the 97 lesions was 95.1 +/- 16.5%. Of the 97 lesions treated to maximal clearance, 14 lesions recurred after a mean follow-up period of 9.0 weeks.


CONCLUSIONS
Results of this study have established the 585 nm flashlamp-pulsed tunable dye laser as a potentially effective modality treatment of plantar warts. Furthermore, it was determined that there was no significant difference in the clearance rate of warts located at a given plantar site when compared to the clearance rates of the other plantar sites (F3/44 = 0.58, P = 0.634).
Jain
A
A
Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Storwick
G S
GS
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005533:Foot Dermatoses / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014860:Warts / Q000473:pathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*