Clinical evaluation of local hyperthermia at 44 °C for molluscum contagiosum: pilot study with 21 patients

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Funding sources: this study was partly supported by the Public Welfare Project, Ministry of Health, China (201202013).

Conflicts of interest: none declared.

Dear Editor, Molluscum contagiosum (MC) is a common cutaneous viral infection caused by Molluscipoxvirus. Clinical features are single or multiple pearly, usually umbilicated papular lesions on the surface of the skin or mucosa. This benign infection is highly contagious and primarily affects preadolescent children and young, sexually active adults.1 According to a recent cohort study, the mean time to resolution was 13·3 months in children in the U.K., while some continued to progress for more than 24 months.2 However, the natural course of the disease in adult patients remains elusive. Treatments are necessary for concerns of transmission, complications and social stigma, some of which may cause side‐effects,3,4 but treatment might not necessarily shorten the time to resolution.5

We previously conducted a series of studies treating warts caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections with local hyperthermia at 44 °C for 30 min in a defined protocol. More than half of the patients were cured, with a negligible recurrence rate.6,7,8,9 Here we applied local hyperthermia to treat MC, to examine its efficacy and applicability in managing the disease. This prospective open clinical trial was carried out at the State Key Department of Dermatology, No. 1 Hospital of China Medical University from December 2013 to November 2014. Eligible patients were clinically diagnosed with MC, excluding those with established immunodeficiency or other severe diseases, or who had received other treatments during the past month (Fig. 1 and Table 1). Written informed consent was obtained from patients or parents where necessary. The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.