The treatment of cutaneous
fungal infections has been shown to be directly affected by the extent of patients' adherence to
therapy regimens that are often cumbersome and last for several weeks. One useful alternative approach is once-daily dosing of topical
antifungal agents rather than the traditional twice-daily regimen, an example of what has been called a "forgiving" regimen, designed to promote patient adherence.
Sertaconazole, an
imidazole antifungal agent, is known to be safe and effective when used twice daily in the treatment of
tinea pedis. This report discusses a small (n=32) clinical trial designed to determine whether
sertaconazole nitrate 2% cream, used once daily, is as effective as the traditional regimen. Results demonstrated that
sertaconazole is as effective when used once daily for four weeks. Patients showed rapid improvement in
pruritus as early as week 2, and at six weeks' follow up, all patients were free of
erythema while 93.8 percent were free of
pruritus; no relapses had occurred. These encouraging findings suggest that
sertaconazole nitrate may be useful in a once-daily regimen and also may result in better patient adherence to
therapy.