Terbinafin 1% Cream and Ketoconazole 2% Cream in the Treatment of Pityriasis Versicolor: A randomized comparative clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To make a comparison between terbinafine 1% cream and ketoconazole 2% cream in the treatment of pityriasis versicolor. METHODS: This randomized single blind study included 110 patients with clinical diagnosis of pityriasis versicolor and positive mycological test for Malassezia furfur. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups. Group 1 used terbinafine cream and group 2 applied ketoconazole cream on the skin lesions for two weeks. Each group consisted of 55 patients. Clinical and mycological examinations were performed at baseline, at the end of the 2(nd), 4(th) and 8(th) week of starting the treatment regimens. RESULTS: At the end of the 2(nd) week we achieved cure rates of 72% and 64.3% for group 1 and group 2 respectively. At the end of the 4(th) week the respective cure rates for group 1 and group 2 were 81.2% and 69%, and at the end of the 8(th) week 70.8% of the patients in group 1 and 61.9% of the patients in group 2 were cured. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed no significant statistical differences between the two groups in regard to cure and recurrence rates. But the numbers of cured patients were higher and recurrent cases were lower in group 1.

Randomized comparative clinical trial of Artemisia sieberi 5% lotion and clotrimazole 1% lotion for the treatment of pityriasis versicolor.

AIMS: To compare the therapeutic effects of topical Artremisia sieberi 5% lotion with topical clotrimazole 1% lotion in the treatment of pityriasis versicolor. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 100 patients with pityriasis versicolor and microscopic identification of Malassezia furfur were randomly assigned to treatment with either topical Artemisia sieberi 5% lotion (group 1) or topical clotrimazole 1% lotion (group 2) for 2 weeks. Group 1 and group 2 consisted of 51 and 49 patients respectively. The patients were evaluated both clinically and mycologically at baseline and every 2 weeks for a period of 4 weeks. RESULTS: At the end of the second week, clinical cure rates were 86.3% and 65.3% for group 1 and group 2 respectively (P<0.01), but at the same time mycological cure rate was 92.2% for group 1 and 73.5% for group 2 (P<0.05). At the end of the fourth week, clinical cure rates were 86.3% and 59.2% for group 1 and group 2 respectively (P<0.01), and at the same time mycologic cure rate was 96.1% for group 1 and 65.3% for group 2 (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study demonstrated that Artemisia sieberi 5% lotion was more effective than clotrimazole 1% lotion in the treatment of pityriasis versicolor.