COMPARATIVE MULTICENTER DOUBLE-BLIND-STUDY OF TERBINAFINE (250 MG PERDAY) VERSUS GRISEOFULVIN (1 G PER DAY) IN THE TREATMENT OF DERMATOPHYTE ONYCHOMYCOSIS

A multicentre randomized double-blind study of 143 patients was conduc ted to compare terbinafine (250 mg/day) and micronized griseofulvin (1 g/day) in the treatment of dermatophyte onychomycosis. The duration o f treatment was up to 12 months, but the treatment could be interrupte d in the event of complete cure, i.e. clinical disappearance of the pa thological zone of the nail combined with mycological cure. The percen tage of nails cured was significantly higher in the terbinafine than i n the griseofulvin group (77.1% versus 45.7%, P=0.0001). Clinical and biological tolerability were good in both groups. Only 7.4% of patient s treated with terbinafine showed one or more adverse events, but 31.5 % with griseofulvin (P<0.001).