Single pulse dose of itraconazole effective in the treatment of tinea pedis

Journal of Drugs in Dermatology, August, 2003

This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of single pulse dosing of itraconazole in the treatment of tinea pedis. This was an open-design, prospective, non-comparative study which involved initially 58 patients, of whom only 44 finished all phases of the study and met all criteria. All of them had clinically and mycologically proven interdigital or mild hyperkeratotic tinea pedis without onychomycosis. Patients were given 200 mg itraconazole, twice daily, for a total of seven days. Patients were evaluated at baseline, immediately following treatment, 30 days, and 60 days following treatment.

T. rubrum was isolated from 93% of the patients, with T. interdigitale the second most commonly found organism. At 60 days following treatment, there were 2 (4.5%) failures (few clinical changes and positive KOH/culture), 5 (11.3%) improvements (clinical changes and positive KOH), and 37 (84.4%) cures (clinical and mycologic). Three adverse events were reported: one moderate headache and two moderate dyspepsias.

Bonifaz A et al. Treatment of tinea pedis with a single pulse of itraconazole. Eur J Dermatol 2002; 12:157-59.