Cutaneous leishmaniasis: treatment with ketoconazole.

A 17-year-old boy with an eight-month history of cutaneous leishmaniasis on the left earlobe was treated with ketoconazole for a period of four weeks. The patient showed excellent improvement both clinically and protozoologically. Ketoconazole, a new imidazole bound covalently to piperazine, has been developed as a broad spectrum antimycotic agent and appears to be a good antileishmanial drug.