Once daily treatment with terbinafine 1% cream (Lamisil^®) for one week is effective in the treatment of tinea corporis and cruris. A placebo‐controlled study

Abstract

Summary. Duration of therapy is an important factor in determining patients' compliance in dermatomycosis. Terbinafine (Lamisil®) is an allylamine antifungal agent. Its fungicidal properties against dermatophytes should allow physicians to reduce treatment duration without affecting the cure rate. This study was carried out to determine the efficacy and tolerability of terbinafine 1% cream, applied once daily for 7 days, in adult patients with tinea corporis/cruris. In a multicentre, randomized, double‐blind, parallel‐group study, patients with a clinical diagnosis of tinea corporis/cruris confirmed by microscopy and culture received treatment with either terbinafine 1% cream (n = 57) or placebo cream (n = 60). The patients applied the cream once daily for 7 days, and were then observed for a further 7 weeks. The efficacy was assessed at the end of the study by comparing the rates of mycological cure in the two treatment groups. Total clinical signs and symptoms scores, clinical response, and overall treatment efficacy were also measured and compared between the two groups. A 7‐day once‐daily course of terbinafine was significantly more effective than placebo in achieving and maintaining mycological cure (84.2 versus 23.3%, P < 0.001). Terbinafine was also significantly more effective than placebo in terms of clinical response, reduction in signs and symptoms scores, and overall efficacy. The short treatment regimen and the sustained high cure rate should contribute to making terbinafine a valuable treatment option in tinea corporis/cruris.

Update on terbinafine with a focus on dermatophytoses

“…79 The application of terbinafi ne once-daily for 7 to 14 days resulted in mycological cure rates ranging from 84% to 94%, clinical cure rates ranging from 75% to 84% and overall effi cacy rates ranging from 65% to 83%; [80][81][82][83][84][85][86] The observed treatment response with topical terbinafi ne is signifi cantly greater than reported for placebo wherein clinical, mycological and complete cure rates range from 8% to 22%. 81,83 Topically applied terbinafi ne also demonstrated statistically greater mycological response rates than a 2-week course of 2% ketoconazole cream, 80 whereas clinical response rates were comparable to a 0.6% gel containing the garlic-derived, sulfuric compound ajoene. 84 Following oral administration for the treatment of tinea corporis and tinea cruris, clinical and mycological cure rates observed with terbinafi ne have ranged from 71% to 100% and 78% to 100%, respectively.…”

Evidence-based topical treatments for tinea cruris and tinea corporis: a summary of a Cochrane systematic review

“…The results of the literature search are shown in Figure . Of the 364 references identified from the searches, 129 studies met our inclusion criteria . However, 63 of these contained no usable or retrievable data owing mainly to the unavailability of separate data for the different tinea infections (Table S1; see Supporting Information) .…”

“…However, 63 of these contained no usable or retrievable data owing mainly to the unavailability of separate data for the different tinea infections (Table S1; see Supporting Information) . The characteristics of the remaining 66 studies are summarized in Table . Of the 129 included studies, 27 had a placebo arm as control, 98 had an active control arm and four studies included both.…”

Efficacy and safety of 1% terbinafine hydrochloride versus 2% sertaconazole cream in the treatment of tinea corporis

“…Terbinafine cream was also significantly more effective than placebo in terms of clinical response, reduction in signs and symptoms scores, and overall efficacy. 5 Choudhary et al compared efficacy and safety of twice daily application of 1% terbinafine hydrochloride and sertaconazole 2% cream, terbinafine had higher rates of cure (80%) at the end of 2 weeks as compared to sertaconazole cream (62.3%).…”