Antifungal treatment of small animal veterinary patients.

Antifungal therapy has progressed significantly with the development of new drugs directed at various processes in fungal cell metabolism. Within veterinary medicine, treatment options for systemic mycoses remain limited to amphotericin B, ketoconazole, fluconazole, and itraconazole. However, newer triazoles, echinocandins, and lipid-based formulations of amphotericin B are now approved for use in humans. This article provides a comprehensive review of the antifungal medications available for veterinary patients, and includes a brief discussion of the newer, presently cost-prohibitive, antifungal therapies used for systemic mycoses in humans.