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Tinea Capitis: Multimedia

Author: Grace F Kao, MD, Clinical Professor of Dermatopathology, Department of Dermatology, University of Maryland School of Medicine and George Washington University Medical School; Director, Dermatopathology Section, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System, Baltimore, Maryland
Contributor Information and Disclosures

Updated: Sep 11, 2009

Multimedia

Gray-patch ringworm (microsporosis) is an ectothr...Media file 1: Gray-patch ringworm (microsporosis) is an ectothrix infection or prepubertal tinea capitis seen here in an African American male child. Gray patch refers to the scaling with lack of inflammation, as noted in this patient. Hairs in the involved areas assume a characteristic dull, grayish, discolored appearance. Infected hairs are broken and shorter. Papular lesions around hair shafts spread and form typical patches of ring forms, as shown. Culture from the lesional hair grew Microsporum canis.
Gray-patch ringworm (microsporosis) is an ectothr...

Gray-patch ringworm (microsporosis) is an ectothrix infection or prepubertal tinea capitis seen here in an African American male child. Gray patch refers to the scaling with lack of inflammation, as noted in this patient. Hairs in the involved areas assume a characteristic dull, grayish, discolored appearance. Infected hairs are broken and shorter. Papular lesions around hair shafts spread and form typical patches of ring forms, as shown. Culture from the lesional hair grew Microsporum canis.

Typical lesions of kerion celsi on the vertex sca...Media file 2: Typical lesions of kerion celsi on the vertex scalp of a young Chinese boy. Note numerous bright yellow purulent areas on skin surface, surrounded by adjacent edematous, erythematous, alopecic areas. Culture from the lesion grew Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Courtesy of Skin Diseases in Chinese by Yau-Chin Lu, MD. Permission granted by Medicine Today Publishing Co, Taipei, Taiwan, 1981.
Typical lesions of kerion celsi on the vertex sca...

Typical lesions of kerion celsi on the vertex scalp of a young Chinese boy. Note numerous bright yellow purulent areas on skin surface, surrounded by adjacent edematous, erythematous, alopecic areas. Culture from the lesion grew Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Courtesy of Skin Diseases in Chinese by Yau-Chin Lu, MD. Permission granted by Medicine Today Publishing Co, Taipei, Taiwan, 1981.

Discrete patches of hair loss or alopecia caused ...Media file 3: Discrete patches of hair loss or alopecia caused by Trichophyton violaceum infection of the vertex scalp of a young Taiwanese boy. Courtesy of Skin Diseases in Chinese by Yau-Chin Lu, MD. Permission granted by Medicine Today Publishing Co, Taipei, Taiwan, 1981.
Discrete patches of hair loss or alopecia caused ...

Discrete patches of hair loss or alopecia caused by Trichophyton violaceum infection of the vertex scalp of a young Taiwanese boy. Courtesy of Skin Diseases in Chinese by Yau-Chin Lu, MD. Permission granted by Medicine Today Publishing Co, Taipei, Taiwan, 1981.

Photomicrograph depicting an endoectothrix invasi...Media file 4: Photomicrograph depicting an endoectothrix invasion of a hair shaft by Microsporum audouinii. Intrapilary hyphae and spores around the hair shaft are seen (hematoxylin and eosin stain with Periodic acid-Schiff counterstain, magnification X 250).
Photomicrograph depicting an endoectothrix invasi...

Photomicrograph depicting an endoectothrix invasion of a hair shaft by Microsporum audouinii. Intrapilary hyphae and spores around the hair shaft are seen (hematoxylin and eosin stain with Periodic acid-Schiff counterstain, magnification X 250).

Fungal hyphae and yeast cells of <EM>Trichophyton...Media file 5: Fungal hyphae and yeast cells of Trichophyton rubrum seen on the stratum corneum of tinea capitis. Periodic acid-Schiff stain, magnification 250X.
Fungal hyphae and yeast cells of <EM>Trichophyton...

Fungal hyphae and yeast cells of Trichophyton rubrum seen on the stratum corneum of tinea capitis. Periodic acid-Schiff stain, magnification 250X.

Pronounced inflammatory tissue reaction with foll...Media file 6: Pronounced inflammatory tissue reaction with follicular pustule formation surrounding a hair follicle seen in a patient with clinical form of infection, termed kerion celsi. No fungal hyphae or spores were identified in the lesion in either tissue sections or culture. Fluorescein-labeled Trichophyton mentagrophytes antiserum cross-reacted with antigens of dermatophyte in the infected hairs within the pustule (hematoxylin and eosin stain, magnification X 75).
Pronounced inflammatory tissue reaction with foll...

Pronounced inflammatory tissue reaction with follicular pustule formation surrounding a hair follicle seen in a patient with clinical form of infection, termed kerion celsi. No fungal hyphae or spores were identified in the lesion in either tissue sections or culture. Fluorescein-labeled Trichophyton mentagrophytes antiserum cross-reacted with antigens of dermatophyte in the infected hairs within the pustule (hematoxylin and eosin stain, magnification X 75).

Wood lamp examination of a gray-patch area on the...Media file 7: Wood lamp examination of a gray-patch area on the scalp (same patient as Media File 1). In Microsporum canis infection, scalp hairs emit a diagnostic brilliant green fluorescence. Trichophyton tonsurans does not fluoresce with Wood lamp.
Wood lamp examination of a gray-patch area on the...

Wood lamp examination of a gray-patch area on the scalp (same patient as Media File 1). In Microsporum canis infection, scalp hairs emit a diagnostic brilliant green fluorescence. Trichophyton tonsurans does not fluoresce with Wood lamp.

More on Tinea Capitis

Overview: Tinea Capitis
Differential Diagnoses & Workup: Tinea Capitis
Treatment & Medication: Tinea Capitis
Follow-up: Tinea Capitis
Multimedia: Tinea Capitis
References

References

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Further Reading

Keywords

tinea capitis, ringworm of the scalp, tinea tonsurans, herpes tonsurans, superficial fungal infection of skin of scalp, superficial fungal infection of skin of eyebrows, superficial fungal infection of skin of eyelashes, superficial mycosis, dermatophytosis, scaly noninflamed dermatosis, scaly erythematous lesions, hair loss, alopecia, kerion, kerion celsi, parasitic infestation of skin, dermatophyte infection
Pityrosporum ovale, keratinophilic fungi, ectothrix infection, arthroconidia, endothrix infections, favus, tinea favosa, Trichophytonschoenleinii, Trichophyton violaceum, scutula, black dot tinea capitis, dermatophyte idiosyncratic reactions, id reactions

acute vesicular dermatitis, annular erythema, erythema nodosum, intradermal trichophytin, Trichophyton concentricum, anthropophilic fungi

Contributor Information and Disclosures

Author

Grace F Kao, MD, Clinical Professor of Dermatopathology, Department of Dermatology, University of Maryland School of Medicine and George Washington University Medical School; Director, Dermatopathology Section, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Veterans Affairs Maryland Healthcare System, Baltimore, Maryland
Grace F Kao, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology, American Society of Dermatopathology, and International Society of Dermatopathology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Medical Editor

Franklin Flowers, MD, Chief, Division of Dermatology, Professor, Department of Medicine and Otolaryngology, University of Florida College of Medicine
Franklin Flowers, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Pharmacy Editor

Michael J Wells, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Dermatology, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center
Michael J Wells, MD is a member of the following medical societies: Alpha Omega Alpha, American Academy of Dermatology, American Medical Association, and Texas Medical Association
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Managing Editor

Paul Krusinski, MD, Director of Dermatology, Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, Fletcher Allen Health Care, University of Vermont
Paul Krusinski, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology, American College of Physicians, and Society for Investigative Dermatology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

CME Editor

Joel M Gelfand, MD, MSCE, Medical Director, Clinical Studies Unit, Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, Associate Scholar, Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania
Joel M Gelfand, MD, MSCE is a member of the following medical societies: Society for Investigative Dermatology
Disclosure: AMGEN Consulting fee Consulting; AMGEN Grant/research funds None; Genentech Consulting fee Consulting; Centocor Consulting fee Consulting; Centocor Grant/research funds None; Covance Consulting fee Consulting; Shire  Consulting

Chief Editor

Dirk M Elston, MD, Director, Department of Dermatology, Geisinger Medical Center
Dirk M Elston, MD is a member of the following medical societies: American Academy of Dermatology
Disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

 
 
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