Association of oral acyclovir and imiquimod for the treatment of hypertrophic genital herpes simplex in HIV positive patients: report of two cases.

Chronic herpes simplex can present as exuberant clinical lesions, especially in HIV patients. The most probable mechanism of formation of these lesions is the invasion of the epidermal CD4 T cells by the herpes simplex virus. Due to the therapeutic difficulties and the high rates of treatment failure amongst these patients, new drugs are currently being discussed on the literature. Studies based on the immunophatology of these lesions have suggested that imiquimod might work as an adjuvant therapy to the antiviral drugs. Here we present two cases of excellent response to treatment with topical imiquimod as an adjuvant drug to acyclovir.