Is loss of taste as a side-effect of terbinafine reversible?/nA 45-year-old man developed a loss of

Fråga: Is loss of taste as a side-effect of terbinafine reversible? A 45-year-old man developed a loss of taste after six weeks of oral terbinafine treatment. He immediately stopped the treatment. One week later he still had no sense of taste.

Sammanfattning: Taste loss is a well described terbinafine side-effect. It is usually reversible with a mean time to recovery of three to six weeks. A single case where taste was only partially recovered has been reported.

Svar: Taste loss is a rare, but well-known side-effect of terbinafine occurring in less than one percent of treated patients. Female sex, old age, low body weight and a history of taste loss seem to be predisposing factors. The taste loss has been reported to be reversible with a mean duration of three to six weeks after stopping the treatment (1,2). According to the manufacturer there are no irreversible cases reported and the longest time to recovery has been 186 days (3).

Medline revealed one case report regarding persistent impairment of taste resulting from terbinafine. A 46-year-old woman took terbinafine 250 mg daily for toe-nail mycosis. After six week she noticed a complete loss of taste and stopped the treatment. Although her sense of taste improved, three years later she still had difficulties tasting sugar and salt (4).

The Swedish Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee has received 158 reports of taste loss or taste disturbances in connection with terbinafine since 1990. In all these cases the relationship between drug exposure and adverse effect was judge as possible.