Formaldehyde 5% in Flexible Collodion Compared to Cryotherapy for Treatment of Female Genital Warts: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives

Genital wart is a sexually transmitted disease caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) and is responsible for discomfort, and decreased quality of life and productivity in victims with a high recurrence rate after treatments. This study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of formaldehyde 5% with cryotherapy for the treatment of female genital warts.

Methods

Eighty women with at least two similar genital warts who visited the outpatient dermatology clinic of Shahid Faghihi hospital, Shiraz, Iran, were enrolled in this study. One lesion of each patient was self-treated with formaldehyde 5% in flexible collodion gel once daily for 28 days and the other matched lesion was treated by weekly repeated cryotherapy courses. The number of eradicated lesions and the mean days needed to treat, pain scores, complications and patient satisfaction were compared between the treatment methods.

Results

Complete clearance of lesions was observed in 58.7% of formaldehyde-treated lesions compared to 88.7% for cryotherapy (P value = 0.000). With formaldehyde-treated lesions, 51% complained of pain, 36.3% had pruritus, 86.3% had skin dryness, 88.8% complained of burning sensation and 93.7% showed erythema. In the cryotherapy group, 92.5% complained of pain, 15% had burning sensation, 75% showed erythema, 5% had atrophy, 80% developed post-inflammatory hyper or hypopigmentation (PIH) and 92.5% suffered from ulceration. Seventy-five (93%) found it easy to apply and (47) 58% were satisfied with their treatment results.

Conclusions

Self-administration of formaldehyde 5% resulted in a lower clearance rate but had better cosmetic outcomes with lower pain scores compared to cryotherapy.

Demographic Study of Female Victims of Sexual Violence Referred to Forensic Medicine in Fars Province

Aims: To determine the clients’ profile of referred in female victims of sexual violence. Methods: In a period of 7 years (2006-2012), 2113 cases of plaintiffs complaining about women sexual violence were investigated by a questionnaire after receiving permission from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences and Forensic Medicine Organization. Data were analyzed after entering SPSS software, version 16, using descriptive statistics and chi-square. Results: The prevalence of rape has decreased in different ages. In 1668 cases, the plaintiffs were female (78.93 %) and most of the victims (36.5%) aged between 16 and 25 years old. According to Fisher test, there was a significant relationship between the age of the victims and different years of examination (p≤0.001). The highest frequency of 30% is reported at elementary education level. The highest frequency of sexual violence against women (18.3%) was reported in 2006 followed by 18.2% in 2011. In terms of occupation, the highest frequency of victims was related to students estimated as 40.52%. Conclusions: Because of the unpleasant nature of sexual violence, there is a serious need for urgent and necessary consideration of its harmful effects and root out this social dilemma by policy makers. Sexual abuse must be prevented especially using religious achievements or by developing effective control strategies detected and by experience female health care users treated.