Vulvovaginal candidiasis in pregnancy treated with clotrimazole

An open trial of local clotrimazole therapy in 56 pregnant women with vulvovaginal candidiasis is reported. The diagnosis was confirmed by mycotic culture. The patients were given one vaginal tablet daily and cream was applied to the vulva 2 or 3 times daily. Their male partners were treated with cream only. The duration of therapy was 6 days. Fifty of the patients (89.3%) were clinically cured after 6 days of therapy. Six patients (10.7%) had slight complaints and 10 (17.9%) without symptoms or signs of infection harboured Candida albicans or other yeast species in the genital tract. Six of the patients were given a second treatment with clotrimazole and their remaining symptoms subsided. Candidiasis recurred later in pregnancy in 4 of the 56 patients studied. The implications of the presence of Candida in the genital tract are discussed. It is concluded that clotrimazole is an effective antimycotic agent which can be used for vulvovaginal candidasis during pregnancy without causing side effects. Two of the patients had trichomoniasis concurrently. One of these was cured with clotrimazole.