title: Usefulness of itraconazole for sporotrichosis in Japan: study of three cases and literature comparison of therapeutic effects before and after release on the market.
abstract: Potassium iodide, itraconazole (ITCZ), and terbinafine are widely known as oral antifungal agents for the treatment of sporotrichosis. Although potassium iodide has been used as the antifungal agent of first choice in Japan due to its high efficacy, its use is not covered by the health insurance programs. In this report, we present the disease course of 3 patients with sporotrichosis in which ITCZ was remarkably effective. By reviewing cases reported in the past, we found sufficient therapeutic effects of ITCZ against sporotrichosis. We also conducted a simple comparison of the efficacy of ITCZ in clinical trials with that of its post-market release; finding the latter to be lower. This seems to be attributable to the problem of compliance or the administration method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Nippon Medical School, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8603, Japan. ogy@nms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.forename: Kensuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawana
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanuma
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D017277:Drug Approval; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017964:Itraconazole / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011358:Product Surveillance, Postmarketing; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013174:Sporotrichosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D017964:Itraconazole