The use of the carbon dioxide laser in the management of condyloma acuminatum with eight-year follow-up.

This paper relates our comprehensive treatment and follow-up of 242 women with condyloma acuminatum over an 8-year period. Laser treatments were carried out at an average power density of 800 W/cm2. Thirty-five patients received a general anesthetic prior to treatment. All other patients were treated in the outpatient clinic. The majority of patients had multiple involvements: 38% had condyloma acuminatum located on the cervix, vulva, and vagina. All of the patients had at least 1 disease-free year following treatment(s) with the carbon dioxide laser; 65% of those treated had at least 2 disease-free years. In many cases, the men were found to have small papillary excrescences on the penis that were not readily diagnosed with the naked eye and were detected only after colposcopic magnification was used. Once the male partner was treated and the female partner was re-treated, the effective cure rate for 1 year was 97%.