Topical treatment of interdigital tinea pedis: Terbinafine compared with clotrimazole

doi:10.1046/j.1440-0960.1999.00360.x

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Wiley InterScience

Australasian Journal of Dermatology

Volume 40 Issue 4, Pages 197 - 200

Published Online: 24 Dec 2001

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Topical treatment of interdigital tinea pedis: Terbinafine compared with clotrimazole

Anita Patel, ¹ Stephanie D Brookman, ² Margaret U Bullen, ³ John Marley, ⁴ David H Ellis, ⁵ Tony Williams and ⁶ Ross StC Barnetson

¹ Department of Dermatology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, ² University Health Service, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, ³ Student Health Service, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, ⁴ Department of General Practice, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, ⁵ Mycology Unit, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and ⁶ Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland

Correspondence:

ProfessorRossStC

Anita Patel, FACD. Stephanie D Brookman, MB, BS. Margaret U Bullen, MB, BS. John Marley, MD. David H Ellis, PhD. Tony Williams, BSc. Ross StC Barnetson, MD.

Submitted 30 November 1998; accepted 10 June 1999.

KEYWORDS

antifungal agents • fungal infections • skin irritation

ABSTRACT

SUMMARY

A multicentre, prospective, randomized, double-blind, parallel group study was undertaken to compare the efficacy and tolerability of topical terbinafine with topical clotrimazole in the treatment of interdigital tinea pedis. Patients were randomized to receive either terbinafine 1% cream twice daily for 1 week, followed by a similar placebo cream for 3 weeks, or clotrimazole 1% cream twice daily for 4 weeks. Outcome measures were: (i) mycological cure (negative culture); (ii) effective treatment (negative culture plus a symptom score of 2 or less out of a maximum score of 18); and (iii) complete cure (negative culture and a symptom score of 0); measured at 1, 4, 8 and 12 weeks after the commencement of the study. One hundred and four of the 217 patients randomized had a culture-confirmed dermatophyte infection at baseline. In these patients, 84.6% in the terbinafine group were culture negative after 1 week, compared with only 55.8% in the clotrimazole group. Both agents were well tolerated. The study showed that terbinafine achieves mycological cure more rapidly than clotrimazole. This may result in improved compliance and better control over transmission of infection.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1046/j.1440-0960.1999.00360.x About DOI