title: Microsporum canis scalp ringworm: its primary or secondary ectothrix character.
abstract: This study supports the view that, in cases of tinea capitis due to a Microsporum canis infection, ectothrix arthroconidium formation is extrapilary and arises from intrapilary hyphae. The hyphae of M. canis perforate and digest the hair cuticle to alter its appearance from a normally identifiable structure of imbricated cells with a distal free border, to a grossly altered and pathological layer. Conidium production mainly takes place outside the hair shaft and forms thick clusters between the cuticular tiles. Finally, a shaft of conidia is formed around the hair. The cuticular covering of such a conidium sheath belongs to the root sheath of the hair follicle, and not to the hair structure proper.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Council, PROMEC, Tygerberg, South Africa.
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Vismer
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000382:microbiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008864:Microsporum; D014006:Tinea Capitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*