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Treatment of Chronic Oral Candidiasis with Clotrimazole Troches — A Controlled Clinical Trial

Charles H. Kirkpatrick, M.D.,
and David W. Alling, M.D., Ph.D.

Abstract

Twenty patients with chronic oral candidiasis were assigned by random allocation to a two-week course of either 10-mg clotrimazole buccal troches or placebo taken five times daily in a double-blind clinical trial. Each of the 10 recipients of clotrimazole had marked regression of symptoms and mucosal lesions, and in nine patients potassium hydroxide preparations and cultures of mucosal scrapings gave no evidence of candidiasis. In contrast, only one of the 10 patients receiving placebo showed any improvement. The clinical outcome in the clotrimazole-treated group was significantly more favorable (P<0.001) than in the group receiving placebo. No adverse reactions to the drug were observed.

After the blind phase of their trial, 15 patients were treated with clotrimazole troches in an open trial. One to three troches per day were found adequate to sustain remissions.

We conclude that clotrimazole is highly effective treatment for chronic oral candidiasis.

Funding and Disclosures

We are indebted to the staff of the Clinical Center Pharmaceutical Development Services for assistance with the study. These studies were conducted in compliance with a protocol that had been reviewed and approved by the appropriate committees and persons of the National Institutes of Health.

Author Affiliations

From the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation and the Office of the Scientific Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health (address reprint requests to Dr. Kirkpatrick at Bldg. 10, Room 11B-13, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20014).

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