Is itraconazole the treatment of choice in Microsporum canis tinea capitis?
Koumantaki-Mathioudaki E; Devliotou-Panagiotidou D; Rallis E; Athanassopoulou V; Koussidou-Eremondi T; Katsambas A; Frangoulis E Department of Dermatology, University of Athens, A. Sygros Hospital, Athens, Greece. Mycotic scalp infection caused by Microsporum canis is the most dominant cause of tinea capitis in Greece. Griseofulvin has been the gold standard for the treatment of tinea capitis, but it is unavailable in our country. In this study, we evaluated 111 children with M. canis tinea capitis that were treated with itraconazole. Eighty-one of them were treated with itraconazole capsule pulse therapy (group A) and 30 (group B) were treated with oral suspension administered in continuous regimen. Twenty-one patients, all from group A, were lost to follow-up, probably due to the length of this regimen. In all patients that made up the study protocol, complete cure was achieved within seven pulses for group A and 12 weeks for group B. No significant side effects to lead to the cessat
