Abstract
The clinical course was investivated of patients suffering from tinea pedis who visited the Dermatology Clinic of Nagasaki Municipal Hospital between July and November, 1993. A complete cure was seen in only 27 of the 380 patients examined, less than 10%. Most patients were still receiving treatment by either topical and/or systemic antifungal drugs after several years because of repeated recurrence of lesions.
The treatment of tinea pedis lesions has two facets, one for efficacy in the short term and the other, complete cure of the lesions, i. e. eradication of dermatophytes from the body surface.
Many new antifungal drugs have recently been introduced on Japanese market. These drugs are greatly improved in minimal inhibitory concentration for dermatophytes, irritability and efficacy rate judged over four-weeks of observation. They focus primarily on short term treatment, but not on a complete cure of tinea pedis lesions. Data concerning long-term follow-up study of tinea pedis patients treated with these newly introduced antifungal drugs is still sparse.
