Hyperkeratotic tinea pedis in Tamaulipas, Mexico

Abstract

Background: Tinea pedis is favored by occlusive shoes, sports and tropical climate that increases humidity and hyperhidrosis. The diagnosis is clinical and confirmed by KOH, an available and low cost test. The etiological agent is isolated by culture and usually belongs to three genders: Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton. Objective: To know the prevalence of hyperkeratotic tinea of feet in a determined population. Material and method: An open, descriptive, observational, prospective and transversal study performed in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, under predisposing conditions for the development of superficial mycoses. In the cases with clinical suspicion of tinea pedis a sample of squama was taken and all samples were submitted to the direct test with potassium hydroxide and culture on Sabouraud agar with antibiotics. Results: 621 patients with the first consultation were studied. In 58 of them we observed suggestive data of tinea pedis, and in 18 cases the KOH was negative. The other 40 patients had clinical diagnosis of hyperkeratotic tinea pedis and were included in the study. Most of them reported that the lesions in the feet where the cause for their consultation, and the most frequent associated disease was onychomycosis. Cultures were positive in 5 cases, and Trichophyton rubrum was isolated in all of them. The most frequent concomitant diseases were overweight and obesity (47.5%), followed by diabetes mellitus type 2 (15%). Of the patients, 52.5% had personal history of tinea pedis, mostly intertriginous. Conclusions: Hyperkeratotic tinea pedis is the least diagnosed variety, probably because it is under reported. Despite the hot and humid weather in the studied area, we could not find a significant relationship between the disease and the type of shoes, the method usually employed to dry their feet was the use of talc.