A controlled trial of home versus hospital treatment of tinea capitis with griseofulvin.
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To test previous observations that children with tinea capitis caused by Trichophyton violaceum and treated with griseofulvin in the field showed better recovery rates than patients given similar treatment in hospital, a planned controlled trial was carried out in Yugoslavia with the assistance of the World Health Organization.Two comparable groups of patients from 15 villages in an endemic area were selected at random for treatment at home or in hospital with an identical treatment schedule. Altogether 395 children 5-14 years old were treated and resurveyed clinically and microscopically for assessment of cure two and six months later.The trial confirmed that home treatment is at least as effective as hospital treatment, the recovery rate among those treated at home (92.2%) being indeed slightly higher than that among the hospitalized (86.4%). Further investigation is needed to elucidate the factors causing this phenomenon, but it may at any rate be concluded that field campaigns with griseofulvin are justified where tinea capitis is endemic. (+info)
Follow-up study of patients treated by X-ray epilation for tinea capitis: psychiatric and psychometric evaluation.
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To investigate the late effects of radiation to the head upon subclinical mental disorders, a psychiatric and psychometric evaluation was performed on 177 cases treated 10-29 years earlier for ringworm of the scalp by X-ray therapy (N :109) or, by chemotherapy (N :68). Analyses which controlled for educational level and family psychiatric disorders showed that, among whites, the irradiated group manifested more psychiatric symptoms and more deviant MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) scores. They were also judged more maladjusted from their MMPI profiles, and more frequently had a history of treated psychiatric disorders; however, the psychiatrist's overall rating of current psychiatric status showed only a borderline differnece between the two groups. There were no significant differences between irradiated and chemotherapy treated blacks. (+info)
Long-lasting cerebral functional changes following moderate dose x-radiation treatment to the scalp in childhood: an electroencephalographic power spectral study.
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EEG tracings were compared in 44 young adults who received scalp x-radiation treatment for tinea capitis during childhood and 59 non-irradiated control subjects. The irradiated subjects were exposed, over 20 years previously, to a mean dose of 130 rads to the brain. Visual analysis of the EEG revealed an insignificant excess of abnormalities among the irradiated subjects compared to the controls. Power spectral density function analysis showed increased power values among the irradiated subjects, particularly in the beta wave frequencies. This finding provides further evidence for suspecting that x-irradiation during brain maturation may cause long-lasting damage to the brain tissue. (+info)
In vitro radiosensitivity of fibroblasts from thyroid and skin cancer patients treated with X-rays for tinea capitis.
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To investigate the hypothesis that persons who developed thyroid or skin cancer subsequent to scalp irradiation for tinea capitis are particularly sensitive to radiation, possibly because of a high frequency of ataxia-telangiectasia, we used an in vitro cell survival assay to evaluate radiosensitivity of their fibroblast cell strains. Study subjects were selected from a cohort of 10,834 Israelis irradiated during childhood for tinea capitis. Skin fibroblasts were obtained from thyroid and skin cancer patients (cases) as well as a sample of subjects who did not have cancer (controls). Fibroblasts were cultured and then loss of colony-forming ability as a result of acute X-irradiation was evaluated. Comparison of survival curve parameters (mean inverse of the slope and the dose needed to reduce colony survival to 10%) between 12 thyroid cancer and 12 control strains showed no differences (P > 0.5). A slightly increased radiation sensitivity of the skin cancer cases compared with their controls was observed. Although based on few subjects (14 cases and 11 controls), the findings were similar whether the mean inverse of the slope (P = 0.06) or the dose needed to reduce colony survival to 10% (P = 0.05) was evaluated. However, because of the small size of the study and potential errors inherent in survival assays, our finding that cell strains derived from patients who developed skin cancer exhibit enhanced radiosensitivity should be viewed as preliminary and interpreted cautiously. (+info)