[Prerequisites for effective therapy of chronic recurrent vaginal candidiasis]

67 women with chronic recurrent or persistent vaginal candidosis between 5-79 years of age were seen in our outdoor department. In 34 cases, yeasts could be isolated in a vaginal swab taken at the first consultation. On average the patients reported 5 episodes per year during the last years. Typical symptoms consisted of pruritus vulvae, local inflammation and a curdy vaginal discharge. Nearly all of the women had received local or systemic antimycotic treatment for several times. In 53% (18 patients), C. albicans had been isolated, in 29% (10 patients) C. glabrata and in 9% (3 patients) C. krusei. While candidosis due to C. albicans and C. krusei was frequently associated with distressing complaints, infections with C. glabrata caused only very few symptoms. Independent of the species, severe and persistent infections were characterized by long term persisting specific IgM-antibody-titers and remarkable lack of IgG-antibodies. The laboratory parameters of WBC, CRP and immunelectrophoresis were normal. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 60 Candida strains against fluconacole were determined by microdilution assay. The MIC for C. albicans (n = 35) were between 0.78 and 3.125 micrograms/ml, for C. glabrata (n = 20) between 8 and 32 micrograms/ml and for C. krusei (n = 5) between 25 and 128 micrograms/ml. In 7 cases, local antimycotic treatment was sufficient. Correlating to the sensitivity, 18 women were treated with 100-800 mg fluconacole/d for 10-20 days. In 13 of them, clearance of symptoms and yeasts was achieved. The treatment of fluconacole-resistant strains with itraconazole (100-200 ml/d for 10-20 days) together with local application of nystatin (2 x 1 Mio. IE for 10 days) was without any effect. Three women with C. albicans, C. glabrata and C. krusei infection received a candidin-vaccination (0.005 BE/ml-500 BE/ml). In all of these cases, production of IgM-antibodies was induced. However, the clinical symptoms could not be influenced. Only in two cases it was not possible to reach a clearance of symptoms and yeasts. The results show the benefit of a precise differentiation before therapy. Serologic controls of antibody titers seem to be useful tools to control the efficacy of treatment.