title: High-definition optical coherence tomography for the in vivo detection of demodex mites.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Demodex mites are involved in different skin diseases and are commonly detected by skin scrape tests or superficial biopsies. A new high-definition optical coherence tomography (HD-OCT) with high lateral and axial resolution in a horizontal (en-face) and vertical (slice) imaging mode might offer the possibility of noninvasive and fast in vivo examination of demodex mites.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with demodex-related skin diseases and 20 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were examined by HD-OCT. Mites per follicle and follicles per field of view were counted and compared to skin scrape tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HD-OCT images depicted mites in the en-face mode as bright round dots in groups of 3-5 mites per hair follicle. In the patients with demodex-related disease, a mean number of 3.4 mites per follicle were detected with a mean number of 2.9 infested follicles per area of view compared to a mean of 0.6 mites in 0.4 infested follicles in the controls. The skin scrape tests were negative in 21% of the patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The innovative HD-OCT enables fast and noninvasive in vivo recognition of demodex mites and might become a useful tool in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of demodex-related skin diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany. Tanja.Maier@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sattler
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Braun-Falco
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ruzicka
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Berking
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008924:Mite Infestations / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D008925:Mites; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012876:Skin Diseases, Parasitic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*