Abstract
Tinea capitis is mainly a fungal infection of children. Adult cases are uncommon. In the last two decades, some adult cases were reported in Taiwan. In 1991, Lee et al. has reported 17 adults' cases in Tainan county (southern Taiwan). Trichophyton violaceum was found to be the most prevalent etiologic agent. In 1994, Chao et al. reported 5 adult tinea capitis due to Trichophyton tonsurans in the same locale. Recently in 2002, Kuo et al. reported another 17 adults cases of tinea capitis caused also mainly by Trichophyton violaceum in Hualien county (eastern Taiwan). To investigate their claims, we have retrospectively reviewed our tinea capitis cases.
Between July 1994 and June 1995, there were 5 adult cases and 2 pediatric cases diagnosed in Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taitung Branch. All the adults' cases were females ranging in age from 62 to 84 years old without history of immunosuppression. Case 1 and 2 were black dot types. Case 3 and 4 were inflammatory types. Case 5 was gray patch type. Examination with 20% potassium hydroxide (KOH) on mounted specimens showed round spores within the hair shafts for the first 4 cases and septate hyaline hyphae on scales for case 5. Cultures from infected hair and scales grew Trichophyton violaceum (case 1 to 4) and Trichophyton rubrum (case 5) respectively.
Our observation agreed with other studies in Taiwan with similar (1) bimodal age distribution; (2) adult predominance; (3) female predominance; and (4) Trichophyton violaceum being the most common etiologic agent in adult cases.
