Favus in an elderly Kashmiri female: A rare occurrence

Abstract

On cutaneous examination, as an incidental finding, we found scarring alopecia over almost entire scalp and multiple, variable sized, yellow crusted lesions with depressed centers and raised edges over the vertex and occipital region [Figure 1]a and b. On probing, patient revealed that she has 4 years duration of yellowish crusts over the scalp that led to loss of hair. [2] Tinea capitis is uncommon in adults [3] due to many reasons such as fungistatic-saturated fatty acids in sebum that appears at puberty, colonization by malassezia globosa that interferes with dermatophyte contamination and the thicker calibre of adult hair that protects against dermatophytic invasion.