Korean J Med Mycol.
2007 Sep;12(3):148-155.
A Clinical and Mycological Studies on Tinea Pedis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Dermatology, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Korea. kjahn@kuh.ac.kr
- 2Department of Dermatology, St. Mary's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea.
- 3Department of Dermatology, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Korea.
- 4Department of Dermatology, Korea University College of Medicine, Korea.
- 5Department of Dermatology, Seoul National University of Bundang Hospital, College of Medicine, Korea.
- 6Department of Dermatology, Asan Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Korea.
- 7Department of Dermatology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Korea.
- 8Department of Dermatology, Chung Ang University College of Medicine, Korea.
- 9Department of Dermatology, Hallym University College of Medicine, Korea.
- 10Department of Dermatology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Korea.
Abstract
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BACKGROUND: Tinea pedis is the most common dermatophytosis in Korea. It has been increased gradually with time and the proportion of that in the aged has been significantly increased.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics of tinea pedis according to the clinical types and their mycologic findings.
METHODS
A clinical and mycological study was performed with 212 cases of tinea pedis among outpatients examined for 9 months from March 2005 to November 2005 at Department of Dermatology of the 11 University Hospitals in Korea.
RESULTS
1. The age distribution showed patients in their 50s and 60s to be the most common. The ratio of male to female was 1.33:1 2. The most frequent clinical type was interdigital only type (55.2%), interdigital hyperkeratotic type (39.8%), vesicular type (2.8%) and interdigital vesicular type (2.2%), in descending order. There are no hyperkeratotic only type and hyperkeratotic vesicular type. 3. The duration of tinea pedis was longer than 5 years in 73.1%. The proportion of interdigital hyperkeratotic type was the highest in longer than 10 years of duration group than in other duration groups. 4. The rate of coexistent dermatophytosis with tinea pedis was 19.3%, and tinea cruris was the most common (10.3%). 5. The positive culture rate was 73.1%, and Trichophyton(T.) rubrum was the most common isolates (93.5%) followed by T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (3.9%) and T. mentagrophytes var. interdigitale (2.6%).
CONCLUSIONS
All these findings suggest that the prevalence of tinea pedis in the aged was high, longer duration of the disease was more common and the rate of coexistent dermatophytosis increased. Further studies about tinea pedis and other dermatophytosis in the aged person will be necessary.
