Short therapy for tinea unguium with terbinafine: four different courses of treatment

Terbinafine has partly solved the well-known problems in the treatment of dermatophyte nail infections. The aim of our study was to assess the effectiveness of very short treatment of dermatophyte nail infections with four different courses of terbinafine with or without chemical onycholysis. For this purpose, 60 patients, divided into four groups, were given different courses of treatment with oral terbinafine. Clinical, mycological and tolerability tests were performed before, during and after treatment. Clear microscopy and culture findings confirmed cure rates in the four groups of 95%, 95%, 70% and 100% without any side-effects. In conclusion, terbinafine has proved to be effective and well tolerated in the very short-term treatment of dermatophyte nail infections.