Utility of antifungal ointment ketoconazole cream in treating seborrheic dermatitis - A comparison with ibuprofen piconol cream

Abstract

For the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis, a topical steroids have been widely used in Japan. In western countries, howerer, an antifungal agent ketoconazole (Nizoral® cream) has been found to be very useful in treating this disease. In recent clinical trials in Japan, 70-80.% improvement has been reported when using this agent. In the present study, 54 seborrheic dermatitis patients with facial lesions were treated with both ketoconazole cream and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen piconol (Staderm®cream), and the effects of these two agents were compared. For the ketoconazole treated arms, the cure rate, improvement rate, and utility rate were 59%, 93% and 93% respectively. For the ibuprofen piconol treated arm, the rates were 8%, 56% and 56% respectively, and significant differences were observed between the two agents. Based on these findings, ketoconazole cream is therefore considered to be more useful than ibuprofen piconol cream for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis.