Tinea incognito with changes in clinical feature related to antifungal treatment

Clinical features of the dermatophyte infections of the glabrous skin can be altered by inappropriate treatment such as topical steroid treatment. We describe a case of dermatophyte infection with changes in clinical feature related to antifungal treatment. A 23-year-old woman presented with reddish annular scaly lesions on her right forearm. On the basis of the detection of hyphae on KOH examination, oral terbinafine 250 mg/day in combination with topical isoconazole was used for 3 weeks, but scattered papulopustules on erythematous bases occurred. Histopathologic examination revealed the presence of hyphae within the follicular infundibulum. Oral itraconazole 100 mg/day was administered for 2 weeks in combination with topical flutrimazole and produced a good clinical response. At her visit about 7 weeks after stopping itraconazole, agminated papulopustules on erythematous bases were seen on her right forearm. Trichophyton mentagrophytes was isolated on the culture of skin scraping from the surface of agminated lesions. She was successfully treated with oral fluconazole 150 mg weekly for 6 weeks and topical flutrimazole and isoconazole.