2007 Volume 117 Issue 10 Pages 1603-1610
〔Methods〕Patients with toenail onychomycosis were divided into 2 groups; one group (intermittent group) was administered 125mg terbinafine a day for 2 weeks in every 4 weeks, and the other group (pulse group) was administered 250mg a day for 1 week in every 4 weeks, for up to 48 weeks. The clinical features of the lesions were sorted into 2 clinical types ; the S-type (lateral edge, streak, spike, or lamellar splitting onychomycosis) and the U-type (other onychomycosis). At 52 weeks, cure rates were calculated separately for each toe and for each clinical type. Background factors that might affect the cure rates were statistically analyzed. 〔Results〕Cure rates in the intermittent group were 71.4% for the U-type of 1st toenails, 65.2% for the S-type of 1st toenails, 100% for the U-type of 2nd-5th toenails, and 87.5% for the S-type of 2nd-5th toenails. In the pulse group, the respective cure rates were 79.2%, 75.0%, 93.3%, and 100%. No statistically significant differences were detected between the two regimens. However, 1st toenails cured at significantly lower rates (65–79%), compared with the extremely high cure rates (87.5–100%) of the 2nd-5th toenails. There were no significant differences in cure rates between the different types of clinical features. There were also no significant differences in occurrence rates of adverse events between the two regimens. 〔Conclusion〕Intermittent oral administration of terbinafine seems sufficiently useful for treatment of toenail onychomycosis, although the cure rate for 1st toenails is significantly lower than that for the 2nd-5th toenails.
