Tinea pedis responds well to topical antifungal
therapy, however, relapse of the disease is not uncommon. Long-term application of antifungals is usually necessary to control relapse. We conducted an open trial of
a 7 day intermittent course of oral
terbinafine treatment at 250 mg/day for plantar type and interdigital type of
tinea pedis. Seventy-five patients of plantar type and 49 patients of interdigital
tinea pedis were treated with
a 7 day course of
terbinafine 250 mg/day. Clinical assessments were made at baseline and every 4 weeks. Another 7 day course of the same amount of
terbinafine were given depending on the clinical and the mycological response. Of the 75 plantar type
tinea pedis with 8 patients excluded, 66 of the remaining 67 (98.5%) were evaluated as cured. Of the 49 interdigital
tinea pedis (3 excluded), 43 of 46 patients (93.5%) cured. Relapse of the disease was observed in 4 of 51 patients at 1 year
after treatment, 4 of 25 at 2 years, and 2 of 9 at 3 years in the plantar type, and in 4 of 30 at 1 year, 0 of 14 at 2 years, and 0 of 6 at 3 years in the interdigital
tinea pedis group. Intermittent
terbinafine therapy is thus effective in the treatment of
tinea pedis.