A Clinical and Mycological Study of Tinea Pedis / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In tinea pedis, the response of treatment and prognosis are different according to clinical types. Positivity in KOH mount and causative agent in culture are also different. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to evaluate the clinical characteristics and mycologic findings of tinea pedis according to the clinical type. METHODS: A clinical and mycological study was conducted with 97 cases of tinea pedis among out patients examined for 7 months from June 1994 to December 1994 at Yeungnam University Hospital and Catholic Skin Clizic, Taegu, Korea. RESULTS: 1. Age distribution showed patients in their fourth decade to be most common. The ratio of male to female was 1.2 1. The distribution of patients by clinical type was interdigital type, interdigital combined with hyperkeratotic type, interdigital combined with vesicular type, hyperkeratotic type, and hyperkeratotic combined with vesicular type, in descending order. One to five years was the most comrrion duration of tinea pedis. Duration of tinea pedis was the shortest in the vesicular type, otherwis was longer in hyperkeratotic type. Rate of family history of tinea pedis was 54.6%. The larger the size of family was, the higher the positivity in family history. The rate of coexistent dermatiophytosis with tinea pedis was 39.1%, and tinea unguium was the most common one. 2. The isolated dermatophytis were T. rubrum, 90.7%, T. mentagrophytes, 7.2%, and T. rubrum rnixed with T. mentagrophytes, 2.1%. T. rubrum showed an even distribution in all clinical types of tinea pedis whereas T. mentanophytes was isolated only in the interdigital type, vesicular type, and interdigital combined with vesicular type. T. rubrum mixed with T. mentagrophytes was isolated in the interdigital combine with vesicular type. Distribution of dermatophytes was relatively even arnong the age groups. T. rubrum showed a relatively even distribution in duration of tinea pedis, but T. mentagrophytes was isolated in tinea pedis with shorter duration.