Effectiveness of treatment of severe tinea pedis with 1% terbinafine creamin members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces

A clinical study was conducted to determine the efficacy of terbinafine cre am in severe cases of tinea pedis. The subjects were 21 men, members of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces who were judged to have severe symptoms of ti nea pedis. The description 'severe' was defined as 'considered to require t he concurrent internal administration of antifungals for complete cure', or as meeting criterion 5 or 6 for the severity of tinea pedis. A simple surf ace application of terbinafine cream was given once daily, the subjects' cl inical manifestations, mycological cure rates and safety-related changes we re observed, and a final assessment was made in the 12th week. In the final assessment, the improvement rate of the cutaneous symptoms was 95.2%, and the fungal eradication and efficacy rates were 81.0%. As for side-effects, one patient complained of local irritation. These results suggested that te rbinafine cream is a beneficial topical antifungal cream for severe tinea p edis.