A Case of Tinea Incognito Mimicking Folliculitis in Atopic Dermatitis Patient / 대한의진균학회지

ABSTRACT

A 27-year-old male with underlying history of atopic dermatitis presented with skin lesion on the trunk and upper extremity, occurring a month ago. Scattered erythematous multiple tiny maculopapules and patches were noticed. The lesion was first diagnosed as aggravated atopic dermatitis with folliculitis based on the clinical manifestation, but had failed to improve with antibiotics and medications for atopic dermatitis. KOH examinations were performed on his upper arm's lesion, and with detection of hyphae and isolation of Trichophyton rubrum by fungus culture, he was successfully treated with oral itraconazole 200 mg/day and topical flutrimazole. Tinea incognito refers to dermatophyte infections with atypical clinical presentation caused by previous treatment with steroid. Nowadays, the cases of tinea incognito have been increasing due to the increased usage of steroid and other immunosuppressants. Therefore, it is essential to include fungal infection in the differential diagnosis when cutaneous lesions are noticed in patients taking steroid and other immunosuppressants. Herein, we present a tinea incognito that clinically mimicked folliculitis in atopic dermatitis patient.