A Randomized Comparative Clinical Trial of Terbinafin 1% Cream and Ketoconazole 2% Cream in the Treatment of Pityriasis Versicolor

Objective: To make a comparison between terbinafine 1% cream and ketoconazole 2% cream in the treatment of pityriasis versicolor.

Methods: This randomized single blind study included 110 patients with clinical diagnosis of pityriasis versicolor and positive mycological test for Malassezia furfur. The patients were randomly assigned to two groups. Group 1 used terbinafine cream and group 2 applied ketoconazole cream on the skin lesions for two weeks. Each group consisted of 55 patients. Clinical and mycological examinations were performed at baseline, at the end of the 2nd, 4th and 8th week of starting the treatment regimens.

Results: At the end of the 2nd week we achieved cure rates of 72% and 64.3% for group 1 and group 2 respectively. At the end of the 4th week the respective cure rates for group 1 and group 2 were 81.2% and 69%, and at the end of the 8th week 70.8% of the patients in group 1 and 61.9% of the patients in group 2 were cured.

Conclusion: The results of this study showed no significant statistical differences between the two groups in regard to cure and recurrence rates. But the numbers of cured patients were higher and recurrent cases were lower in group 1.