Clinical cases
RECURRENT GENITAL WARTS IN AN ELDERLY PATIENT

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a ubiquitos, very resitant virus with a rising incidence in the last years. It is associated with a large spectrum of skin and/or mucosal diseases: from benign verrucae vulgares to pre-malignant and malignant lesions. There are nearly 200 types of HPV, of wich 50 infect the genital area. HPV-16 is the main subtype in development of penile squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

We present the case of a immunocompetent 76 year-old male patient who was admitted to our Clinic for the presence of a well-delimited, hyperkeratotic, 0.5x0.4 cm tumoral lesion with mobile implantation base placed in the balanopreputial sulcus with a 5 month evolution. The patient had multiple hospitalizations in our Clinic, since 2011, for the presence of hyperkeratotic papules on the glans penis, wich proved to be common warts according to histologic examination.

Because we suspected a pre-malignant lesion or a SCC of the penis we performed a biopsy with histologic examination, who established the diagnosis of genital wart.


We performed the electrocauterization of the last lesion; the evolution was fine under local treatment with antibiotic cream. The HPV infection is associated with the risc of developing SCC of the penis; although this tumor is very rare the patient remains under clinical observation.