Safety of oral itraconazole in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis

Background seborrheic dermatitis (sd) is a chronic, papulosquamous dermatosis and malassezia yeasts are considered as causative factors. the dual antifungal and anti-inflammatory effects of oral itraconazole account for its prolonged therapeutic action in sd. objectives: to assess the safety of oral itraconazole in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis. patients and methods during a period of total 2 years from january, 2008 to december, 2009, 37 patients of sd were treated with oral itraconazole (200 mg/day for 7 days) in first month and consecutive use of 200 mg/day for the first 2 days of the following 11 months. patients were followed up monthly for clinical side effects and biochemical derangements. results 16 (43.2%) patients suffered from different side effects of drug i.e. nausea in 16 (76.2%) patients, followed by abdominal pain in 3 (14.3%) and diarrhea in 2 (9.5%). these were selflimiting and did not warrant discontinuation of therapy. biochemical abnormalities were not seen in any patient. conclusion the study suggests that oral itraconazole is a safe treatment option of seborrheic dermatitis