You could probably replace using wildcards
Replace using wildcards e.g.
Code:
Sub Macro1()
Dim oRng As Range
Set oRng = ActiveDocument.Range
With oRng.Find
Do While .Execute(findText:="<[a-z]{3}[A-Z]{1}>", MatchWildcards:=True)
oRng.Select
If MsgBox("Replace?", vbYesNo) = vbYes Then
oRng.Font.Italic = True
oRng.Characters.Last.Font.Italic = False
End If
oRng.Collapse 0
Loop
End With
Set oRng = Nothing
End Sub