The patient with refractory genital warts in the STD-clinic. Treatment failure with CO2-laser.

Sixty two patients with refractory genital warts attending a VD-clinic were treated with CO2-laser. Residual warts or new wart formation was observed in 45 of them (72%), two weeks after operation, resulting in an immediate cure rate of 27%. The cure rate obtained was independent of location, duration, and previous treatment of warts. Reoperation with CO2-laser was performed in 12 patients, and all had remaining lesions two weeks after operation. It is concluded that a single CO2-laser treatment often is an insufficient procedure for eradication of disseminated refractory genital warts.