Pityriasis versicolor is a benign superficial fungal infection. Topical drugs are often
effective in treatment of limited lesions while in extensive case systemic drugs are more suitable. The
new oral antifungal drugs triazole, itraconazole and fluconazole showed remarkable promising results at
different dose schedules. This study was aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of two oral antifungal
drugs; fluconazole and itraconazole on the progression of Pityriasis Versicolor after two and four week’s
interval. Sixty patients with extensive Pityriasis Versicolor were assigned for treatment with either two
doses of 300 mg fluconazole once weekly for two weeks (FTP), a single dose of 400 mg of itraconazole
(ITP 1) and two doses of 400 mg itraconazole with one week interval for two weeks (ITP 2, n = 20
patients each group). All patients were clinically investigated by wood’s lamp and mycologically by
10% potassium hydroxide. Four weeks after treatment the improvement rate and side effects were
evaluated. Our results showed that 83.3%, 41.2%, and 52.6% of respectively pretreated FTP, ITP1 and
ITP2 groups were significantly became wood’s lamp and potassium hydroxide negative at the end of
four weeks. In addition, fluconazole was found more complied by Pityriasis Versicolor infected patients
compared to itraconazole treated patients. The present findings showed that fluconazole is clinically
preferred than itraconazole in cure of Pityriasis Versicolor.
Keywords: Pityriasis Versicolor, fluconazole, itraconazole, wood's lamp