Clinical Manifestations of Plantar Verrucae Among HIV-positive Subjects in the Post-HAART Era

Objective: To compare clinical manifestation of plantar verrucae between HIV-infected and non-infected individuals. To compare these findings to those observed prior to the implementation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV infection. Methods: Nineteen subjects with plantar verrucae were examined to determine size, number and type of verrucae present. These parameters were evaluated in two groups: 10 HIV-positive and 9 HIV-negative subjects. The two groups were first compared to each other, and then to data obtained from a similar analysis conducted in1995. Two correlation matrices were created using Pearson correlation coefficients. Results: The average size and range of verrucae in HIV-negative subjects was greater than the average size and range of HIV-positive subjects. Moreover, HIV-positive subjects presented with a smaller number of verrucae than HIV-negative ones. The HIV-positive group presented with a greater variety in the type of verrucae consisting of mosaic, punctate and plantaris, whereas the HIV-negative group presented with a majority of verruca plantaris. When compared to the 1995 data there was a decrease in the average of the verrucae size and number among HIV-positive subjects and an increase in the average size and number of the HIV-negative subjects. Conclusion: While this study included a relatively small sample, data indicates that the implementation of HAART has impacted the clinical manifestation of plantar verrucae among HIV-positive individuals. Further analyses are required to confirm and substantiate these findings.