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Tinea incognito
Roberto Arenas, MD a,, Gabriela Moreno-Coutio, MD a ,
Lucio Vera, DrSc b , Oliverio Welsh, MD b
Mycology Section, Department of Dermatology, Dr. Manuel Gea Gonzalez General Hospital,
Calzada de Tlalpan 4800, 14080 Mxico, DF, Mxico
b
Department of Dermatology, Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez University Hospital, Monterrey, Mxico
a
Abstract Tinea incognito was first described 50 years ago. It is a dermatophytic infection with a clinical
presentation modified by previous treatment with topical or systemic corticosteroids, as well as by the
topical application of immunomodulators such as pimecrolimus and tacrolimus. Tinea incognito usually
resembles neurodermatitis, atopic dermatitis, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis, lupus erythematosus, or
contact dermatitis, and the diagnosis is frequently missed or delayed.
2010 Published by Elsevier Inc.
Introduction
Tinea corporis is clinically defined as patches of scaly
erythema with a slightly elevated border. This picture is
representative of most lesions affecting glabrous skin. One
of the diagnostic challenges in tinea corporis and tinea
capitis is identifying those cases that have been previously
mistreated by self-medication or secondary to the use of
topical and systemic immunosuppressants, such as steroids
and immunomodulators.
The term tinea incognito was originally described in 1968
by Ive and Marks in 14 patients with a dermatophytic
infection that had an atypical clinical presentation caused by
previous treatment with steroids. This occurred in the 1960s
after the introduction of these drugs for the topical treatment
of diverse dermatologic diseases. Since then, other cases have
been described with the topical application of pimecrolimus
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R. Arenas et al.
Fig. 1
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