ABSTRACT
Tinea manuum comprises roughly 5% of all cases of tinea, and the main culprit is known to be Trichophyton (T.) rubrum, T. mentagrophytes var. erinacei is a dermatophyte that may be transmitted from hedgehogs, and it has been reported in Korea now that vast diversity of pets are brought into existence. Tinea manuum caused by T. mentagrophytes var. erinacei, is frequently localized to the initial site of exposure, and thus may be confused with hand eczema or pompholyx. The patient visited the outpatient clinic with an erythematous scaly patch with pustule on the right finger after being initially misdiagnosed with housewife eczema. Numerous hyphae were evident on KOH smear examination, and confirmative diagnosis of tinea manuum caused by T. mentagrophytes var. erinacei was made after culturing scales from the lesion for molecular biological analyses. The patient is currently under follow-up without relapse after being treated systemic and topical antifungal agents.