A retrospective clinical study of the treatment of high-grade anal dysplasia by infrared coagulation in a population of HIV-positive men who have sex with men

HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM) are at high risk of developing human papillomavirus-associated anal squamous cell cancer. Similar to the management of cervical dysplasia, clinicians are treating high-grade anal dysplasia to prevent progression to cancer. Initial treatments such as cold scalpel excision and electrofulguration have shown limited efficacy in a HIV-positive population. Infrared coagulation (IRC) is an outpatient treatment for high-grade anal dysplasia. This retrospective clinical study reports on 68 HIV-positive MSM with 78 biopsy proven high-grade anal lesions. Each lesion was treated with the IRC with re-biopsy of the treatment site a mean of 140 days later. Of the 74 evaluable lesions; 39 had anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) 1, 20 had AIN 2, seven had AIN 3, and eight had normal epithelium. The IRC showed 64% efficacy per treated lesion and shows promise as a treatment modality for high-grade anal dysplasia in this population.