Management of Onychomycosis and Co-Existing Tinea Pedis

May 2015 | Volume 14 | Issue 5 | Original Article | 492 | Copyright © May 2015


Shari R. Lipner MD PhD and Richard K. Scher MD FACP

Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY

table 3

Concluding Remarks

The prevalence of toenail onychomycosis is highly associated with the presence of pre-existing tinea pedis. In fact a number of surveys, and a recent post hoc analysis of two large clinical studies have shown that the two diseases co-exist in at least one third of patients.7,10,11,22 In our experience, the reported co-existence of the two diseases is likely to be significantly under-recorded as many patients are not aware they have a fungal infection, or may not seek medical treatment. As a result, we recommend that all patients with toenail onychomycosis should be examined for tinea pedis. All areas of the feet should be inspected for tinea, including plantar feet, toe webs and lateral/medial feet. Shoe evaluation should also be part of any toe onychomycosis/tinea pedis assessment.
When managing patients with onychomycosis, it is important to treat any co-existing tinea pedis. The benefits in treating both diseases has now been clearly demonstrated.

DISCLOSUREs

Dr. Scher has served as paid consultant to Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors acknowledge Brian Bulley, MSc, of Inergy Limited for medical writing support. Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC funded Inergy’s activities pertaining to this manuscript.

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AUTHOR CORRESPONDENCE

Shari R. Lipner MD PhD…................................ shl9032@med.cornell.edu
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