ORAL ITRACONAZOLE THERAPY FOR PITYRIASIS-VERSICOLOR

The therapeutic efficacy and safety of oral itraconazole (200 mg/day f or 7 days) was assessed in an open trial in 50 patients with pityriasi s versicolor. At the end of the 1-week therapy complete remission and marked improvement were observed in 44% and 48% of the treated patient s, respectively; 8% of the patients who showed no response were treate d for 1 more week and also revealed a complete remission by the end of the 3-week follow-up (50/50). Headache and/or nausea occurred in 6% o f the patients, whereas, the haematological and biochemical investigat ions revealed no abnormalities. The results of the present study clear ly indicate that oral itraconazole is a highly efficacious and safe tr eatment for pityriasis versicolor. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.