Butoconazole is a new imidazole, effective as therapy for vulvovaginal candidiasis for women who prefer solid-type vaginal preparations. The efficacy of three-day administration of butoconazole vaginal suppositories, 100 mg/day, was compared to that of clotrimazole vaginal tablets, 200 mg/day. Patients with culture-proven vulvovaginal candidiasis were randomly assigned to either butoconazole (97 patients) or clotrimazole (88 patients). The percentage of patients with fungal cultures negative for Candida albicans was statistically significantly higher for butoconazole than for clotrimazole (92 vs. 74, P = .003) at the eight-day posttreatment examination. At the 30-day posttreatment examination the cure rate was still higher for butoconazole (63%) than for clotrimazole (56%), but the difference was not statistically significant. Complete clinical relief was achieved in 81% of patients in both treatment groups achieved in 81% of patients in both treatment groups at the first follow-up examination, while at the second follow-up examination the clinical cure rate was 77% for butoconazole and 69% for clotrimazole. No systemic side effects were reported.