Treatment of tinea pedis with econazole nitrate cream.

This study investigated the clinical effectiveness and the long-term relapse rate of the topical imidazole, econazole nitrate, in the treatment of tinea pedis. Econazole nitrate cream was applied by twenty-two patients with tinea pedis for twenty-eight consecutive days. Therapy was then discontinued and patients were evaluated to determine the long-term relapse rate. Nineteen (86 percent) of the twenty-two patients were considered cured at the end of twenty-eight days of treatment. At the follow-up examinations, 74 percent of the group considered to be clinically cured at the end of therapy remained clear for one month, 84 percent for two months, and 63 percent for three months after stopping active treatment. These data demonstrate that econazole nitrate is a highly effective topical agent in the treatment of tinea pedis and that clinical and mycologic cures in almost two thirds of the patients last for at least three months.