Tazarotene as Topical Treatment of Onychomycosis: Does It Really Work?

Abstract

nychomycosis is a common disease, accounting for up to 50%-60% of all ungual pathologies. It is not life-threatening, but it is a disease of considerable value that can generate many psychological and occupational problems impairing patient’s quality of life. Onychomycosis can be caused by dermatophytes, molds and yeasts. Nails may be infected by two different dermatophytes, two dermatophytes and a yeast, a dermatophyte, a yeast and a mold. The clinical patterns of OM are: distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis (DLSO), proximal subungual onychomycosis (PSO), superficial white onychomycosis (SWO), endonyx onychomycosis (EO), total dystrophic onychomycosis (TDO), candidal onychomycosis (CO) and fungal melanonychia. Dermoscopic examination typically reveals: A whitish discoloration of the nail, superimposed longitudinal parallel striation, and jagged proximal edges with spikes. Moreover, sometimes there is small splinter hemorrhages and always there is presence of various nail discolorations with green, yellow or brown colors may occur. We conducted a clinical interventional study, on 80 patients with finger(s) and/or toe(s) nail onychomycosis (OM). These patients were recruited from the outpatient clinic of dermatology department at Ain Shams University Hospitals, during the period from January 2016 till October 2017. Eighty