title: New therapies for onychomycosis.
abstract: Until recently, the treatment of onychomycosis was discouraging because of the relatively low success rate, the need for prolonged therapy, and the laboratory monitoring necessary with the traditional oral antifungal agents, griseofulvin and ketoconazole. The advent of a new generation of oral antifungal drugs, including two triazoles (itraconazole and fluconazole) and an allylamine (terbinafine), has greatly improved the outlook for patients with fungal nail infections, particularly those with toenail involvement. Recently, the broad-spectrum triazole, itraconazole, has been approved for the treatment of onychomycosis in the U.S. Numerous studies have demonstrated its efficacy when administered either continuously for 3 months or in "pulse" dosing. Preliminary findings suggest that fluconazole and terbinafine are also promising, although their spectrum of activity is not as broad as that of itraconazole.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of California, San Francisco 94143, USA.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Odom
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009281:Naphthalenes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014009:Onychomycosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D000077291:Terbinafine
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D009281:Naphthalenes; D017964:Itraconazole; D015725:Fluconazole; D000077291:Terbinafine