Publication:

Dermatophytosis: a clinical study and efficacy of KOH examination as compared to culture

Background Dermatophytosis is very common condition. It is important to study their pattern and nature for proper diagnosis as well as management. The objective of the study was to study pattern of dermatophytosis and to study efficacy of KOH examination in comparison to culture.

Methods A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out among 100 randomly selected patients with dermatophytosis for one year. Skin smears were examined with KOH. All such samples were also sent for culture examination. The results of KOH and culture were compared to see the efficacy of KOH.

Results It was found that T. corporis was the most common clinical type of dermatophytosis in 48% of the cases. Most commonly affected age group was 21-30 years. Males were more commonly affected (55%) than females (45%). T. corporis was the most common infection in both the sexes followed by T. cruris, T. barbae and T. manuum are not seen among females while T. pedis was not seen among males. Maximum number of cases i.e. 72% was seen during summer season. The source of infection was not known in 81% of the cases. The sensitivity of the KOH was 95.5% and the specificity was 94.1%. The most common species responsible for dermatophytosis was T. rubrum in 38% of the cases.

Conclusions The dermatophytosis was very commonly found in our settings. T. corporis was the most common clinical type. Majority of cases were seen during summer. KOH examination is useful for the diagnosis.