Koplik's spots (also Koplik's sign) are a prodromic viral enanthem of measles manifesting two to three days before the measles rash itself. They are characterized as clustered, white lesions on the buccal mucosa (opposite the upper 1st & 2nd molars) and are pathognomonic for measles.[2] The textbook description of Koplik spots is ulcerated mucosal lesions marked by necrosis, neutrophilic exudate, and neovascularization.[3] They are described as appearing like "grains of salt on a reddish background",[1] and often fade as the maculopapular rash develops. As well as their diagnostic significance they are important in the control of outbreaks. Their appearance, in context of a diagnosed case, before they reach maximum infectivity, permits isolation of the contacts and greatly aids control of this highly infectious disease.[4]
Nobel laureate John F. Enders and Thomas Peebles, who first isolated the measles virus, were careful to collect their samples from patients showing Koplik's spots.[5]
- ^ a b Steichen O, Dautheville S (2009). "Koplik spots in early measles". CMAJ. 180 (5): 583. doi:10.1503/cmaj.080724. ISSN 0820-3946. PMC 2645467. PMID 19255085.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Robbins and Cotran. "Infectious Diseases." Pathologic Basis of Disease. 7th ed. 2005. Print.
- ^ Baxby, Derrick (July 1997). "Classic Paper: The diagnosis of the invasion of measles from a study of the exanthema as it appears on the buccal mucous membrane". Reviews in Medical Virology. 7 (2): 71–74. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1654(199707)7:2<71::AID-RMV185>3.0.CO;2-S. PMID 10398471. S2CID 42670134.
- ^ Enders, J.F.; Peebles, T.C. (1954). "Propagation in tissue culture of cytopathogenic agents from patients with measles". Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 86 (2): 277–86. doi:10.3181/00379727-86-21073. PMID 13177653. S2CID 4010044.