Comparative efficacy of griseofulvin and fluconazole in the treatment of tinea capitis

Background tinea capitis is caused by different species of dermatophytes particularly microsporum and trichophyton. children are affected predominantly. many systemic drugs e.g. griseofulvin, fluconazole, itraconazole, terbinafine, ketoconazoe etc are available for the treatment of tinea capitis. objectives to compare the efficacy of griseofulvin and fluconazole in the treatment of tinea capitis. patients and methods a total of 50 patients of age group 2-15 years were selected for the study. the cases were diagnosed clinically and confirmed by wood’s lamp examination, koh microscopy and culture. the patients were divided into two equal groups. group a was given griseofulvin and group b was given fluconazole for a period of two months. topical adjuvant therapy econazole nitrate was given in both groups. the patients were followed up at 2 weekly interval for clinical response and wood’s lamp examination and finally koh microscopy and culture. results in group a clinical response was 84% and mycological response was 68% whereas in group b clinical response was 68% and mycological response was 56%. conclusion the present study showed that griseofulvin is more effective in the treatment of noninflammatory type of tinea capitis than fluconazole.