This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Dermoscopy may be useful in presumptive diagnosis of tinea capitis
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Using dermoscopy to detect factors such as comma hairs, black dots and broken hairs with multiple white bands may be helpful in diagnosing pediatric patients with tinea capitis, according to researchers.
In a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting in San Diego, Débora Cadore de Farias, MD, and colleagues reported their efforts to determine whether dermoscopy could be used to diagnose tinea capitis in children, as well as to compare findings in both ectothrix and endothrix infections. They performed dermoscopy on pediatric patients (n=17) aged 1 to 9 years with tinea capitis, isolating Microsporum canis in nine patients, Trichophyton tonsurans in three patients, T. mentagrophytes in one patient, M. gypseum in one patient and T. rubrum in one patient.
According to the researchers, 13 patients were found to have comma hairs, including 10 with ectothrix infection and three with endothrix infection. Additional findings included 10 cases in which the presence of black dots was detected, and nine cases in which there were broken hairs with multiple white bands.
“Although not always present, comma hairs, black dots and broken hairs with multiple white bands should raise suspicion of both ectothrix and endothrix infections and may be used to guide diagnosis and management in children with patchy alopecia,” the researchers wrote.
For more information:
- de Farias DC. Abstract #5674. Presented at: AAD 2012; March 16-20, 2012; San Diego.