Forty-seven patients with active rheumatoid arthritis took part in an 8-week controlled study in which clotrimazole was compared with a standard nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agent, ketoprofen. Although clotrimazole was shown to be effective in the treatment of the disease and superior to ketoprofen in certain measurements, if was also responsible for a high incidence of adverse effects. Improvement with clotrimazole took place more slowly but was more sustained than with ketoprofen. A significant rise in plasma cortisol and a fall in white cell count was observed in the clotrimazole treated patients.