Candida albicans vaginitis: the problem is diagnosis, the enigma is treatment.
At the UCLA Vulvovaginitis Clinic, 63 patients were diagnosed as having symptomatic Candida albicans vaginal infections. In a random select manner 3-day treatment with 200-mg clotrimazole suppositories was compared with 7-day treatment using 100-mg clotrimazole suppositories. 7- and 35-day follow-up of all patients entered revealed no statistical difference between the two groups, suggesting that short-term treatment is most efficacious and can be expected to work better since patient compliance is primarily a function of duration of treatment. In 50 cases of C. albicans patients treated with miconazole or clotrimazole in a random manner, the recurrence rate was 8 or 16. All patients in the study received perianal cultures for C. albicans before treatment and 7 and 35 days after treatment. 5 of the 8 patients with recurrence had perianal positive cultures at the 7- and 35-day check suggesting this as a source of recurrence. It is suggested that patients with persistently high perianal cultures after treatment be given an oral fungicide or fungistat to lower chronic recurrent C. albicans.
D002176:Candida albicans / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002181:Candidiasis, Vulvovaginal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003022:Clotrimazole / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007093:Imidazoles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008825:Miconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011247:Pregnancy; D014844:Vulva / Q000382:microbiology
D007093:Imidazoles; D008825:Miconazole; D003022:Clotrimazole