Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2022 Jul 4:20:eRC6881.
doi: 10.31744/einstein_journal/2022RC6881. eCollection 2022.

Alopecia and pet: a case report

Eduardo Cukierman  1 , Thiago Zinsly Sampaio Camargo  1 , Laís Pereira Bueno Millan  1 , Marianna Ribeiro de Menezes Freire  1 , Lucas Franco Mendes Carneiro  1 , Renata Dejtiar Waksman  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Alopecia and pet: a case report

Eduardo Cukierman et al. Einstein (Sao Paulo). .

Abstract

Dermatophytoses are fungal infections affecting the skin and cutaneous annexes. This clinical case report describes a 7-year-old girl with Kerion celsi, a severe manifestation of Tinea capitis. The patient presented with painful edematous crusty scalp lesions and alopecia, which required surgical debridement and long-term antifungal treatment. Culture of samples collected from scalp and arm skin lesions (patient and patient's mother respectively) were positive for Trichophyton mentagrophytes. The family owned a pet guinea pig. This particular dermatophytosis is easily transmitted from guinea pigs to humans, with some studies showing up to 34.9% prevalence of Trichophyton mentagrophytes infection in these animals.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. (A) Scalp lesion seen upon initial assessment in the emergency department; (B) Scalp lesion after surgical wound debridement; (C) Dermatophyte detected on direct examination
Figure 2
Figure 2. Patient with the guinea pig sitting on top of her head
Figure 3
Figure 3. (A) Lesion on the mother’s left upper limb; (B) Patient scalp within 3 months of hospital admission
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Havlickova B, Czaika VA, Friedrich M. Epidemiological trends in skin mycoses worldwide. Mycoses. 2008;51(Suppl 4):2-15. Review. Erratum in: Mycoses. 2009;52(1):95. - PubMed
    1. Romano C. Four paediatric cases of tinea capitis due to unusual agents. Mycoses. 1999;42(5-6):421-5. - PubMed
    1. Nenoff P, Krüger C, Ginter-Hanselmayer G, Tietz HJ. Mycology - an update. Part 1: Dermatomycoses: causative agents, epidemiology and pathogenesis. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2014;12(3):188-209; quiz 210,188-211; quiz 212. Review. - PubMed
    1. Cheng N, Rucker Wright D, Cohen BA. Dermatophytid in tinea capitis: rarely reported common phenomenon with clinical implications. Pediatrics. 2011;128(2):e453-7. - PubMed
    1. Castriota M, Ricci F, Paradisi A, Fossati B, De Simone C, Capizzi R, et al. Erythema nodosum induced by kerion celsi of the scalp in a child: a case report and mini-review of literature. Mycoses. 2013;56(3):200-3. Review. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances