Abstract
Tinea capitis is a common, easily treatable dermatophyte infection of the scalp predominantly found in children. A variety of techniques to obtain fungal culture specimens from the hair and scalp have been described in the literature including a scrape-and-pluck, cotton swab, toothbrush, hairbrush, tape and cytobrush methods. Previous studies have aimed to assess the accuracy of various fungal culture techniques; however, no studies have directly compared the cotton swab method to the traditional scrape-and-pluck methods. The aim of this study was to directly compare the cotton swab technique, an inexpensive and less invasive and painful method, and the scrape-and-pluck method for diagnosing tinea capitis. In this prospective IRB-approved study, children aged 6 months to 18 years seen in dermatology clinic with scalp findings suspicious for tinea capitis were enrolled. Each subject had two samples collected using both methods, and samples were sent for assessment of culture and speciation. Nine patients met inclusion criteria with a mean age of 6.8 years; seven (77.8%) were female. Associated symptoms included pruritus (100%), scaling (100%), posterior cervical lymphadenopathy (66.7%), hair loss (55.6%), and erythema (22.2%). Five patients had positive cultures for both scrape-and-pluck and swab methods; four had both negative. Our findings are notable for one hundred percent concordance between the two methods in all patients. Enrollment is still ongoing but preliminary results are promising in suggesting that the cotton swab method is as efficacious as the scrape-and-pluck method.
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call