The usefulness of
bifonazole (
Mycospor), a topical
imidazole antifungal agent approved 10 years ago, was evaluated for the treatment of
tinea pedis.
Mycospor cream was applied by 141 patients with
tinea pedis once daily for 4 233ks, and the clinical efficacy and adverse reactions (as well as any correlations with susceptibility of isolates and the mycological activity of the agent against these isolates) were studied. The results were then compared to those of a previous study. The following results were obtained. 1. Mycological activity Mycological examination results became negative in 63.2% (36/57) of the patients with plantar
tinea pedis, in 94.1% (32/34) of those with interdigital
tinea pedis, and in 74.7% (68/91) of all
tinea pedis patients. 2. Mycological activity and MIC No correlation was found between the MICs of
bifonazole against the pathogenic fungi and the rate of eradication on mycological examination. 3. Improvement of symptoms The improvement rates for local symptoms were 82.5% for plantar
tinea pedis, 85.7% for interdigital
tinea pedis, and 83.7% for all
tinea pedis. 4. Clinical efficacy Good clinical efficacies were found in 61.4% of the patients with plantar
tinea pedis, in 88.6% of those with interdigital
tinea pedis, and in 71.7% of all patients. 5. Safety Regarding adverse reactions, what seemed to be
contact dermatitis was reported in 5 out of 127 cases (3.9%). The reaction decreased or disappeared in all cases. 6. Usefulness
Mycospor was found to be useful in 64.9% of patients with plantar
tinea pedis, in 88.6% of those with interdigital
tinea pedis, and in 73.9% of all
tinea pedis patients. 7. Comparison with former results The results obtained in the present clinical study were comparable to those obtained in patients with
tinea pedis treated in a double-blind comparative study conducted during the development of as a new topical
antifungal agent. From the above results,
Mycospor cream was confirmed to be still useful, although it has been used widely for the topical treatment of cutaneous
mycoses in the past 10 years since its approval.