Seven days of intermittent terbinafine 250 mg treatment in Tinea pedis

Abstract

Tinea pedis responds well to topical antifungal therapy, however, relapse of the disease is not uncommon. Long-term application of antifungals is usually necessary to control relapse. We conducted an open trial of a 7 day intermittent course of oral terbinafine treatment at 250 mg/day for plantar type and interdigital type of tinea pedis. Seventy-five patients of plantar type and 49 patients of interdigital tinea pedis were treated with a 7 day course of terbinafine 250 mg/day. Clinical assessments were made at baseline and every 4 weeks. Another 7 day course of the same amount of terbinafine were given depending on the clinical and the mycological response. Of the 75 plantar type tinea pedis with 8 patients excluded, 66 of the remaining 67 (98.5%) were evaluated as cured. Of the 49 interdigital tinea pedis (3 excluded), 43 of 46 patients (93.5%) cured. Relapse of the disease was observed in 4 of 51 patients at 1 year after treatment, 4 of 25 at 2 years, and 2 of 9 at 3 years in the plantar type, and in 4 of 30 at 1 year, 0 of 14 at 2 years, and 0 of 6 at 3 years in the interdigital tinea pedis group. Intermittent terbinafine therapy is thus effective in the treatment of tinea pedis.