Pityriasis Amiantacea Associated with Staphylococcus aureus Super-infection in Bedouin Patients

Abstract

Pityriasis amiantacea (PA) is an inflammatory disease of the scalp characterized by asbestos-like shiny scales that bind to the proximal part of the hair shaft. PA may be an isolated disorder or a reaction pattern associated with other inflammatory disorders. Previous reports did not demonstrate a clear association between PA and bacterial infections. A controlled prospective study was performed to identify the role of bacterial skin infections in patients with PA. In all patients, bacterial cultures were taken from the scalp. A group of 32 patients with various other scalp disorders served as a control group. Thirty-two patients were included in the study. There were 30 women (93.8%) and 2 men (6.2%) with a mean age of 23.1 years (SD 11.9 years). Twenty-five patients (78.1%) were of Bedouin origin and 7 were of Jewish origin (21.9%). Staphylococcus aureus was isolated in 26 patients with PA (81.3%) as compared with 1 patient (3.1%) from the control group (p=0.0001). The patients were treated by a combine...