title: Double-blind treatment of seborrheic dermatitis with 2% ketoconazole cream.
abstract: Thirty-seven patients with seborrheic dermatitis were treated topically with a 2% ketoconazole cream or its vehicle control in a double-blind study. The subjects were studied for numbers of Malassezia ovalis (Pityrosporum ovale) cells in their scalp scale; changes in numbers of yeast cells and morphology of M. ovalis were tabulated along with clinical assessment of improvement. The 2% ketoconazole cream, but not the placebo cream, reduced the numbers of viable yeast cells on the scalp. The clinical effect of 2% ketoconazole cream was good (75%-95% improvement) or better in eighteen of twenty subjects; the placebo cream produced good results in only three of seventeen subjects treated. Results of this study are consistent with the view that M. ovalis plays a central role in the pathogenesis of seborrheic dermatitis.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Noah
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Zanolli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Guin
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Rosenberg
mesh_terms: D000287:Administration, Topical; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D012628:Dermatitis, Seborrheic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D007654:Ketoconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008290:Malassezia / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D007654:Ketoconazole