Objectives: Angiogenesis is a key event in tumour growth. An infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) typically leads to benign tumours, such as warts (papillomas) on the skin and mucous membranes. The role of angiogenesis in skin warts is yet to be established.
Materials and methods:The present work evaluates the hypothesis that the development of skin warts is associated with alterations in the dermal vascularisation (dermal microvessel density/mm 2 , MVD). Seventeen cases of cutaneous warts and eight cases of normal skin were studied. Dermal vessels were immunostained for CD31, CD34 and CD105. The ten areas with the highest number of microvessels were counted.