Dermatophytosis in special patient populations

Objective:To study the occurrence and prevalence of dermatomycosis in special patient populations suffering from diabetes,cancer and heart diseases.Methods:A total of 640 patients suffering from diabetes,280 patients suffering from cancer and 210 patients suffering from heart diseases from Cairo City were evaluated for dermatophytosis at the dermatology clinics of four different hospitals from January 2005 to December 2006.Results:The presence of diabetes looks a risk factor for tinea pedis and tinea corporis.Tinea cruris and tinea unguium were not common among diabetics,while tinea capitis and tinea versicolor were completely missed.Tinea capitis followed by tinea pedis are the most common among cancer patients.Thirty cases were recorded for tinea among 210 patients with heart diseases of which tinea capitis and tinea versicolor were recorded once while the other clinical types of tinea were estimated in 6-8 patients for each type.Conclusions:The present investigation shows that diabetes remains to be a risk factor for dermatophytosis and cancer comes next due to the use of radioactive irradiation.