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Abstract

To the Editor:We welcome the comments by Dr. Shwayder regarding our article on the treatment of tinea capitis in children with oral terbinafine.The recommended dosage for terbinafine is 3 to 6 mg/kg per day,1Mercurio MG Elewski BE Tinea capitis treatment.Dermatol Ther. 1997; 3: 79-83Google Scholar but because terbinafine is available only in 125 and 250 mg tablets, the dosage prescribed to our patients was according to body weight based on the study of Haroon et al.2Haroon TS Hussain I Mahmood A Nagi AH Ahmad I Zahid M An open clinical pilot study of the efficacy and safety of oral terbinafine in dry non-inflammatory tinea capitis.Br J Dermatol. 1992; 126: 47-50Crossref PubMed Scopus (76) Google Scholar The patients were assigned to the following body weight groups: 10 to 20 kg, 20 to 40 kg, and more than 40 kg; they were given the daily doses of 62.5, 125, and 250 mg, respectively. Patients with Trichophyton tonsurans infection responded well to terbinafine in contrast to those with Microsporum spp. infection. We also noted that in patients with kerion the response to treatment was comparable to noninflammatory tinea capitis with regard to duration and dosage except that a longer time elapsed before cure. No other adjunctive antiinflammatory drugs were needed.In patients with Microsporum infection who failed to respond to treatment, we doubled the dose but the response rates remained the same. This raises the possibility that a longer duration of treatment may be needed. To the Editor:We welcome the comments by Dr. Shwayder regarding our article on the treatment of tinea capitis in children with oral terbinafine.The recommended dosage for terbinafine is 3 to 6 mg/kg per day,1Mercurio MG Elewski BE Tinea capitis treatment.Dermatol Ther. 1997; 3: 79-83Google Scholar but because terbinafine is available only in 125 and 250 mg tablets, the dosage prescribed to our patients was according to body weight based on the study of Haroon et al.2Haroon TS Hussain I Mahmood A Nagi AH Ahmad I Zahid M An open clinical pilot study of the efficacy and safety of oral terbinafine in dry non-inflammatory tinea capitis.Br J Dermatol. 1992; 126: 47-50Crossref PubMed Scopus (76) Google Scholar The patients were assigned to the following body weight groups: 10 to 20 kg, 20 to 40 kg, and more than 40 kg; they were given the daily doses of 62.5, 125, and 250 mg, respectively. Patients with Trichophyton tonsurans infection responded well to terbinafine in contrast to those with Microsporum spp. infection. We also noted that in patients with kerion the response to treatment was comparable to noninflammatory tinea capitis with regard to duration and dosage except that a longer time elapsed before cure. No other adjunctive antiinflammatory drugs were needed.In patients with Microsporum infection who failed to respond to treatment, we doubled the dose but the response rates remained the same. This raises the possibility that a longer duration of treatment may be needed. We welcome the comments by Dr. Shwayder regarding our article on the treatment of tinea capitis in children with oral terbinafine. The recommended dosage for terbinafine is 3 to 6 mg/kg per day,1Mercurio MG Elewski BE Tinea capitis treatment.Dermatol Ther. 1997; 3: 79-83Google Scholar but because terbinafine is available only in 125 and 250 mg tablets, the dosage prescribed to our patients was according to body weight based on the study of Haroon et al.2Haroon TS Hussain I Mahmood A Nagi AH Ahmad I Zahid M An open clinical pilot study of the efficacy and safety of oral terbinafine in dry non-inflammatory tinea capitis.Br J Dermatol. 1992; 126: 47-50Crossref PubMed Scopus (76) Google Scholar The patients were assigned to the following body weight groups: 10 to 20 kg, 20 to 40 kg, and more than 40 kg; they were given the daily doses of 62.5, 125, and 250 mg, respectively. Patients with Trichophyton tonsurans infection responded well to terbinafine in contrast to those with Microsporum spp. infection. We also noted that in patients with kerion the response to treatment was comparable to noninflammatory tinea capitis with regard to duration and dosage except that a longer time elapsed before cure. No other adjunctive antiinflammatory drugs were needed. In patients with Microsporum infection who failed to respond to treatment, we doubled the dose but the response rates remained the same. This raises the possibility that a longer duration of treatment may be needed.