Tinea versicolor confined to the hairy scalp.

Abstract

One does not ordinarily think of tinea versicolor as affecting the scalp. It most commonly affects the chest, back, and shoulders but may be much more widespread including extensions onto the face and into the lower scalp. It is usually impossible because of the hair to trace its progress past the borders of the scalp. This report concerns a nine-year-old Caucasian boy, seen Oct 23, 1961, with tinea versicolor of recent onset, which was still spreading, in which all lesions (2 to 6 mm, achromic, scaly patches) were confined entirely to the hairy scalp, chiefly in the lower half, where they could be clearly seen because of his extremely close haircut. The remaining skin appeared normal. Skin scrapings of lesions examined in 20% KOH were loaded with the classical mycelial fragments and grape-like clusters of round spores. The boy's father has had extensive tinea versicolor of trunk and arms for