Evaluation of 5-aminolevulinic acid-mediated photodynamic therapy in postmenopausal women with persistent HPV infection with or without cervical and vaginal low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (CIN1/VaIN1)

To analyze the efficacy and safety of PDT on postmenopausal women with persistent HPV infection and low-grade cervical and vaginal intraepithelial neoplasia. The clinicopathological and follow-up data of 86 postmenopausal women with HPV infection which met relevant criteria were collected. The above patients were followed up 6 months and 12 months after PDT treatment. HPV negative conversion rate and lesion remission rate are the evaluation indicators of treatment efficacy. At 12-month follow-up, the overall HPV clearance rate was 60%, of which the negative conversion rate of 16/18 HPV was 41.38%, and non-16/18 HPV was 71.74% (33/46) (p=0.009). In patients without lesions, the HPV clearance rate was 51.72%, while in patients with CIN1/VaIN1 (n=46), the HPV complete remission rate and lesion regression rate were 65.22% and 89.13%, respectively. PDT could be an effective conservative treatment for persistent HPV infection and CIN1/VaIN1 in postmenopausal women.