A study of onychomycosis in patients attending a dermatology center in Tehran, Iran.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the incidence of onychomycosis based on age and sex, morphological pattern of the disease, predisposing factors and identification of fungus by direct microscopy and culture methods.

METHODS

A prospective study was conducted on 140 patients with nail disorders. A detailed history and thorough examination was done in all patients. The samples were taken from patients clinically suspected of fingernails and toenails infections attending a dermatology center in Tehran, Iran. The nails were subjected to potassium hydroxide (KOH) examination and fungal culture on Sabouraud's dextrose agar (SDA) medium.

RESULTS

Specimens from 79 patients (56.4%) were positive for onychomycosis. The mycological observations showing positive fining with KOH were observed in 79 (56.4%) and culture positive in 35 (25%) cases. Females were more infected than males. The most common age group infected was 41-60 years (40.7%). Toenails were affected more frequently than fingernails and dystrophic onychomycosis was the most common clinical type seen in 39.2% patients. From the culture-positive samples, yeasts were the most common pathogens isolated from 25 (71.4%) patients, followed by non-dermatophytic moulds in 6 (17.1%) and dermatophytes in 4 (11.5%) patients.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that Candida species were the main agents causing onychomycosis in our region and accurate diagnosis of onychomycosis was based on direct microscopy and fungal culture.