Intermittent therapy with terbinafine for dermatophyte toe-onychomycosis: a new approach.

Terbinafine, an orally active antifungal agent of the allylamine class, is effective in the treatment of dermatophyte onycomycosis. Its pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties give strong support to the possibility that intermittent treatment courses may be equally effective in onychomycosis in general. The present randomized and controlled study was carried out to determine whether intermittent therapy with terbinafine was effective in dermatophyte toe-onychomycosis. Sixty patients with mycologically proven toenail dermatophyte onychomycosis were included in the study. Patients were equally allocated to treatment groups in a random manner. Group 1 was given 250 mg/day of terbinafine for 3 months. Group 2 was given 500 mg/day of terbinafine for 7 days during the first week of each month for 3 months. Nails were examined clinically and mycologically at monthly intervals. All patients were followed up for 48 weeks after starting the treatment. Of the patients who entered the study, 24 in Group I and 23 in Group 2 were evaluable for efficacy. At the end of the follow-up period, the cure rate (negative microscopy and culture) was 79.2% in Group 1 and 73.9% in Group 2; this difference was not significant (p: 0.79). The results indicate that intermittent therapy with terbinafine is as effective as 3-month treatment in dermatophyte toe-onychomycosis.