Tinea Capitis Caused by Trichophyton rubrum in a 81-Year-Old Woman

Trichophyton(T.) rubrum is an anthropophilic dermatophyte that is found all over the world. It has become one of the most important causative agents in tinea unguium and tinea pedis. But tinea capitis caused by T. rubrum is rare. Tinea capitis is ucommon in adult. We report a case of tinea capitis caused by T. rubrum in a 81-year-old woman. She presented with localized asymptomatic well-demarcated fine scaly hyperkeratotic erythematous patches on the fronto-vertex scalp for 6 months. She was diagnosed as seborrheic dermatitis in local clinic and was treated with topical steroid. However, the lesion was not improved. A fungal culture from tissue of the lesions was grown on Sabouraud``s dextrose agar and showed typical whitish cottony colonies of T. rubrum. She was treated with 200mg of oral itraconazole daily for 6weeks. The skin lesions improved 2 weeks after treatment, and recurrence has not been observed.