Warts: When They've Had Every Treatment But the Zinc

Investigators in Iraq designed a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled, prospective trial of oral zinc sulfate in the treatment of recalcitrant warts (common, plantar, and planar). They recruited 80 patients, each of whom had more than 15 resistant warts. For 2 months, 40 patients were treated with oral zinc sulfate (3 doses totaling 10 mg/kg/day, to a maximum of 600 mg/day), and 40 received placebo. If clearance occurred, patients were followed for 2 to 6 months to assess recurrence.

In the zinc group, 23 patients completed treatment, 20 of whom (87%) had clearance of warts within 2 months. Dropouts were described as lost to follow-up. In the placebo group, 20 patients completed treatment, and no response occurred in any patient. A…