Trichophyton mentagrophytes-induced eyebrow kerion

Abstract

Kerion celsi (from the name of Aulus Cornelius Celsus, Roman physician of the 1st century aD, to whom we owe the first description of alopecizing diseases) is an intensely inflammatory ringworm that affects the terminal hairs, usually of the scalp, but also rarely of the eyebrow and beard. It is characterized by an inflammatory plaque that quickly suppurates and often leaves scarring. It is commonly associated with zoophilic dermatophytes, such as Microsporum canis and Tricophyton mentagrophytes and therefore due to contact with domestic animals (3). It is often misdiagnosed as a bacterial infection, thereby delaying timely treatment and further increasing the likelihood of bacterial superinfection, resulting in scarring and permanent alopecia. For patients, especially prepubertal children, who do not respond to antibiotic therapy, it is necessary to think of a fungal infection, rather than resorting to surgery, which can worsen the clinical picture, increasing the likelihood of scarring alopecia. (...).