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Comparative Study of 250 mg/day Terbinafine and 100 mg/day Itraconazole for the Treatment of Cutaneous Sporotrichosis

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Abstract

Itraconazole is currently used for the treatment of cutaneous sporotrichosis. Terbinafine at a daily dose of 250 mg has been successfully applied to the treatment of cutaneous sporotrichosis.

Objective

To compare the efficacy of 250 mg/day terbinafine and 100 mg/day itraconazole for the treatment of cutaneous sporotrichosis.

Materials and methods

A bidirectional cohort study was conducted on 55 patients receiving 250 mg/day terbinafine and 249 patients receiving 100 mg/day itraconazole. The latter patients were matched for age and clinical form to the terbinafine group at a ratio of 5:1. Sporothrix schenckii was isolated by culture from all patients (age range: 18–70 years), who were submitted to the standard care protocol consisting of clinical and laboratory evaluation and periodic visits.

Results

Cure was observed in 51 (92.7%) patients of the terbinafine group and 229 (92%) of the itraconazole group within a similar mean period of time (11.5 and 11.8 weeks, respectively). An increase in the terbinafine dose to 500 mg was necessary in two patients due to the lack of a response, and one patient presented recurrence. In the itraconazole group, two patients required a dose increase and three presented recurrence. Adverse events were equally frequent among patients receiving terbinafine (n = 4, 7.3%) and itraconazole (n = 19, 7.6%) and were generally mild without the need for drug discontinuation, except for two patients of the itraconazole group.

Conclusion

Terbinafine administered at a daily dose of 250 mg is an effective and well-tolerated option for the treatment of cutaneous sporotrichosis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Pesquisa Clínica em Dermatologia Infecciosa, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Glaucia Francesconi, Antonio Carlos Francesconi do Valle, Cássio Ferreira Porto & Maria Clara Gutierrez Galhardo

  2. Laboratório de Epidemiologia Clínica, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Sonia Lambert Passos

  3. Laboratório de Infectologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Mônica Bastos de Lima Barros & José Liporage

  4. Laboratório de Micologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rodrigo de Almeida Paes

  5. Laboratório de Oftalmologia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    André Luiz Land Curi

  6. Serviço de Farmácia, Instituto de Pesquisa Clínica Evandro Chagas (IPEC), Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    André Luiz Land Curi

Authors
  1. Glaucia Francesconi
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  2. Antonio Carlos Francesconi do Valle
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  3. Sonia Lambert Passos
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  4. Mônica Bastos de Lima Barros
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  6. André Luiz Land Curi
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  7. José Liporage
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  8. Cássio Ferreira Porto
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  9. Maria Clara Gutierrez Galhardo
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Correspondence to Glaucia Francesconi.

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Francesconi, G., Francesconi do Valle, A.C., Passos, S.L. et al. Comparative Study of 250 mg/day Terbinafine and 100 mg/day Itraconazole for the Treatment of Cutaneous Sporotrichosis. Mycopathologia 171, 349–354 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9380-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11046-010-9380-8

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