[Oral ketoconazole therapy of a case of pulmonary histoplasmosis].

A 46-year-old man with recurrent pulmonary histoplasmosis was given oral treatment with ketoconazole (a new imidazole derivative related to miconazole) in a dose of 400 mg/day for 3 months, followed by 200 mg daily for 6 months. The clinical and microbiological signs disappeared and the chest X-ray cleared. The drug was well tolerated without clinical or biological side-effects. The pharmacology of ketoconazole, its indications and the results of treatment of other deep mycoses are discussed. Unlike amphotericin B, ketoconazole can be administered orally without noticeable toxicity and appears to have approximately the same fungicidal activity.