Koplik's spots
Koplik spots are a prodromic viral enanthem of measles manifesting two days before the measles rash itself. They are characterized as clustered, white lesions on the buccal mucosa near each Stenson's duct (on the buccal mucosa opposite the maxillary 1st molars) and are pathognomonic for measles.[1] The textbook description of Koplik spots is ulcerated mucosal lesions marked by necrosis, neutrophilic exudate, and neovascularization.[2] They are described as appearing like "grains of salt on a wet background", and often fade as the macular rash develops.
[edit] History
They are named after Henry Koplik (1858-1927), an American pediatrician who described them in 1896.
The first description of these spots by some authors are ascribed to Reubold, Würzburg 1854, by others to Johann Andreas Murray (1740-1791). Before Koplik, the German internist Carl Jakob Adolf Christian Gerhardt (1833-1902) in 1874, the Danish physician N. Flindt in 1879, and the Russian Nil Filatov (1847-1902) in 1895, had observed equivalent phenomena.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Tierney LM, Wang KC (February 2006). "Images in clinical medicine. Koplik's spots". N. Engl. J. Med. 354 (7): 740. doi:10.1056/NEJMicm050576. PMID 16481641. http://content.nejm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=short&pmid=16481641&promo=ONFLNS19.
- ^ Robbins and Cotran. "Infectious Diseases." Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
- ^ Koplik, H. The diagnosis of the invasion of measles from a study of the exanthema as it appears on the buccal mucous membrane. Archives of Pediatrics, New York, 1896; 13: 918-922." (accessed from http://www.whonamedit.com/synd.cfm/1437.html on 9/13/2006)
[edit] External links
- Image of Koplik's spots - dentistry.leeds.ac.uk.
- Koplik spots in early measles - Canadian Medical Association Journal
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