Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical and mycological characteristics of candidal balanoposthitis in patients.Methods All the clinical and mycological records from 56 patients with candidal balanoposthitis at our STD clinic were reviewed.The clinical features, precipitating factors, mycological features and treatment experiences were summarized.Result The 56 patients were aged between 18 and 61 years (mean age,34.11?9.92 years), 67.9% (38/56) were aged between 20 and 40 years, 87.5% (49/56) were uncircumcised, 14.29% (8/56) were suffering from diabetes mellitus. 49 strains of Candida species were isolated from 48 patients, 44 (91.84%) were Candida albicans and 5 (8.16%) were Candida parapsilosis. All the patients were treated with sertaconazole cream topical and 5 patients with severe symptoms were combined with itraconazole oral,In the result, 76.79% (43/56) of patients showed a favorable response, followed after one month with clinical and mycological cure.Conclusion Candidal balanoposthitis is prone to the young men and Candida albicans is still the most common pathogen. Sertaconazole topical treatment is effective. Avoiding Sex is helpful to improve cure rates and re-infection.

Key words: balanoposthitis, Candida, sertaconazole, itraconazole