title: Comma hairs: a dermatoscopic marker for tinea capitis: a rapid diagnostic method.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dermatoscopy and videodermatoscopy have been used for several years in the diagnosis of skin disorders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We sought to determine whether tinea capitis (TC) shows characteristic videodermatoscopy features that may facilitate its differentiation from alopecia areata (AA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two patients with TC caused by Microsporum canis, confirmed by mycological culture and fluorescence under Wood lamp, were examined with videodermatoscopy and results were compared with videodermatoscopy results of 12 patients with AA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The distinctive and most prominent feature of TC was presence of commalike structures (comma hairs). These were accompanied by broken and dystrophic hairs. Videodermatoscopy features of AA included exclamation mark hairs, vellus and dystrophic/cadaverized hairs, and yellow dots corresponding to hyperkeratotic hair follicle plugs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was conducted on two patients, both with M canis infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Comma hairs were observed as a distinctive videodermatoscopy feature of M canis-induced TC. This finding was not observed in AA, typified generally by exclamation mark hairs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Central Medical Hospital MSWiA, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Slowinska
authors.forename: Lidia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rudnicka
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kowalska-Oledzka
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakowska
authors.forename: Justyna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sicinska
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lukomska
authors.forename: Malgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Olszewska
authors.forename: Elzbieta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Szymanska
mesh_terms: D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000175:diagnosis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D046169:Dermoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000379:methods*; D014006:Tinea Capitis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*