Tinea Capitis - Diagnosis

Diagnosis

Tiniea capitis may be difficult to distinguish from other skin diseases that cause scaling, such as psoriasis and seborrhoeic dermatitis; the basis for the diagnosis is positive microscopic examination and microbial culture of epilated hairs. Wood's lamp examination will reveal bright green to yellow-green fluorescence of hairs infected by M. canis, M. audouinii, M. rivalieri, and M. ferrugineum and a dull green or blue-white color of hairs infected by T. schoenleinii. Individuals with M. canis infection trichoscopy will show characteristic small comma hairs. Histopathology of scalp biopsy shows fungi sparsely distributed in the stratum corneum and hyphae extending down the hair follicle, placed on the surface of the hair shaft. These findings are occasionally associated with inflammatory tissue reaction in the local tissue.