Images in Clinical Medicine

Kim Eagle, M.D., Editor

Pediculosis capitis

David M. Driscoll, D.O., and Bruce Tronic, M.D.

N Engl J Med 1996; 335:790September 12, 1996

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Article

Figure 1 A 14-year-old girl and her 6-year-old sister presented with pruritus in the postauricular area. Multiple small, white capsules were found firmly attached to their hair. Examination of the hair under a light microscope at a magnification of 100 showed unhatched, tulip-shaped eggs, or nits, on the hair shaft (Panel A). The patients were infested with Pediculus humanus subspecies capitis, or head lice, blood-sucking ectoparasites of the order Anoplura. A female head louse (Panel B) is about 4 mm in length and remains confined to the scalp, attached to the hair shaft with its pincer-like claws (arrow).

Kim Eagle, M.D.

David M. Driscoll, D.O.
Bruce Tronic, M.D.
Lahey Hitchcock Clinic, Burlington, MA 01805

Citing Articles (2)

Citing Articles

1. 1

   RICHARD J. POLLACK, ANTHONY E. KISZEWSKI, ANDREW SPIELMAN. (2000) Overdiagnosis and consequent mismanagement of head louse infestations in North America. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal 19:8, 689-694
   CrossRef

2. 2

   (1997) Treatment of Head Lice. New England Journal of Medicine 336:10, 734-735
   Full Text

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