Tinea corporis, a superficial fungal infection caused by dermatophytes is highly prevalent in India. This condition primarily affects the limbs and the trunk and can severely impair the quality of life of the patient.

Aim: To compare the outcome of use of Terbinafine and Sertaconazole as monotherapy in the treatment of tinea corporis.

Materials and Methods: 58 patients were enrolled in this single blind parallel therapeutic trial.The patients were allocated to each arm of the study by stratified random sampling. Group A received treatment with Sertaconazole nitrate 2 % cream while group B received treatment with terbinafine hydrochloride 1% cream twice daily. The patients were reviewed weekly for 4 weeks and followed up for 2 weeks after completion of treatment. The primary outcome measures were percentage of patients showing clinical and mycological cure while mean improvement in clinical score was a secondary outcome measure.

Results: 50 patients out of 58 completed the study,25 in each arm. Between the two arms, more percentage of patients in the Sertaconazole arm showed mycological clearance at weeks 2 and 3(48 and 76%) compared to Terbinafine (28 & 68%) respectively. A significantly larger number of patients in the Sertaconazole arm showed complete or near complete improvement in clinical scores(84%) at week 3 compared to those in the Terbinafine arm (68%). The mean improvement in clinical scores was significantly higher for the patients in the Sertaconazole arm at weeks 2 and 3.

Conclusion: Sertaconazole showed faster mycological clearance and could achieve better percentage of clinical cure in a shorter duration when compared to terbinafine.

KEYWORDS: Sertaconazole, Terbinafine, tinea corporis, topical antifungals, monotherapy.

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