Large spores (macroconidia, fuseaux) of Microsporum audouini in vivo; report of a case.

Abstract

APPEL and Ansell 1 reported in theARCHIVES of DERMATOLOGY and SYPHILOLOGYof February 1949 that they found large spores of Microsporum canis in their microscopic examination of the hairs of 2 patients with tinea capitis. We should like to report our observations of macroconidia in the microscopic examination of hairs of a patient with tinea capitis caused by Microsporum audouini. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such observations. Evidently this phenomenon must be rare, since in dermatologic practice potassium hydroxide preparations of hairs of patients afflicted with fungous infections of the scalp are frequently and quite often routinely examined under the microscope. Yet, when present, these large spores are so conspicuous that it would be difficult for the trained observer to miss them. We failed, however, to find in the available literature 2 any reference to the possibility of the production of macroconidia during