Treatment of tinea pedis with a single pulse of itraconazole

An open-design, prospective, non-comparative study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of itraconazole in the treatment of tinea pedis (interdigital-type, hyperkeratotic-type and the combination of both). Treatment consisted of one pulse of itraconazole, meaning that each patient received 400 mg/day for one week. Clinical and mycologic control examinations were performed at baseline and at the end of treatment; follow-up visits took place at 30 and 60 days after the last medication administration. A total of 44 patients were evaluated. The major causal agent isolated was Trichophyton rubrum (93%). At the final follow-up visit (60 days), 37 cases (84.4%) achieved clinical and mycologic cure; 5 (11.3%) had improvement and 2 cases (4.5%) failed. Three cases reported side effects attributable to itraconazole (6.6%); one patient had a moderate headache and two reported moderate dyspepsia. None of the 3 cases required discontinuation of the medication. We concluded that the administration of one pulse of itraconazole is an effective, safe and short regimen to treat tinea pedis.