Evaluation of acitretin versus oral isotretinoin in the treatment of common warts

Background: Warts are common benign tumors caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, which is acquired from direct contact with an infected individual or from the environment. Objectives: The aim of this work was to compare the efficacy and adverse effects of acitretin and oral isotretinoin in the treatment of common warts.Methods: This study included 70 patients with multiple common warts who were selected from the Outpatient Clinics of Dermatology, Venereology and Andrology Department at Zagazig University Hospitals during the period from January 2020 to December 2020. A signed written consent was taken from each patient before being joined into the study that was approved by IRB at Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University.Results: The study included 70 patients with multiple common warts (48 males and 22 females). They were divided to 3 groups: oral acitretin group, oral isotretinoin group, oral placebo group. All patients completed the study.Conclusion: There was a highly significant variation in the treatment response between the treatment groups and the placebo group, while there was no significant variation between the two treatment groups although the complete response rate was slightly higher in the acitretin group than the isotretinoin group. Key words: common warts, acitretin , isotretinoin , HPV, systemic retinoids.