Tinea pedis: clinical experience and efficacy of short treatment

Tinea pedis is the commonest fungal infection in developed countries. Topical therapy is an accepted and successful method for the management of this condition. This has usually involved the application of an antifungal twice or 3 times a day for 3-4 weeks to achieve a cure rate of > or = 80%. Terbinafine, a new antifungal, has been shown in a number of studies to give equally good results when applied once or twice daily for 1-2 weeks. In one study, a cure rate of 78% was achieved in patients with tinea pedis after a single application of 1% terbinafine cream, demonstrating the high potency of this antifungal. Topical terbinafine has also been compared to clotrimazole for the treatment of tinea pedis. Terbinafine 1% cream applied twice daily for 1 week was significantly superior to a 4-week course of clotrimazole 1% cream for treating this common mycosis. Overall, the high efficacy of topical terbinafine in treating tinea pedis following such-short-duration therapy is undoubtedly due to its fungicidal mode of action.