title: The boosted oral antifungal treatment for onychomycosis beyond the regular itraconazole pulse dosing regimen.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Modern treatments for onychomycosis do not yield an ideal cure rate.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The boosted oral antifungal treatment (BOAT) is introduced as a novel approach improving the efficacy of oral treatment with the itraconazole pulse dosing regimen.
  
  
  METHODS
  The BOAT design targets resting fungal cells in order to produce sensitive hyphae which are less refractory to antifungals. This is performed by securing a piece of a Sabouraud's agar slide onto the affected nail in alternance with oral intake of itraconazole.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The present comparative intraindividual trial suggests that BOAT improves the mycological cure rate compared to the regular treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  BOAT is a promising simple and cheap combined therapy for onychomycosis. However, the present pilot study calls for further clinical investigations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatopathology, University of Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Piérard
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Piérard-Franchimont
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Arrese
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D009262:Nails / Q000382:microbiology; D014009:Onychomycosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D017964:Itraconazole