Hennessy Joe, Kusanale Atul, Pratt Clive
Western Sussex NHS Trust, Chichester, West Sussex, UK.
Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2012 Dec;16(4):403-4. doi: 10.1007/s10006-012-0313-1. Epub 2012 Jan 14.
Many disease processes can present with facial swelling and multiple discharging sinuses. A differential diagnosis would include actinomycosis, tuberculosis and osteomyelitis, but tinea barbae is a relatively uncommon presentation.
The following case report describes a 48-year-old jockey who was diagnosed with tinea barbae. It chronicles the investigations that were performed to determine the offending pathogen and the difficulty in achieving a diagnosis.
The investigations and the pathophysiology of dermatophytic infections and their management in a maxillofacial/oral medicine environment are discussed.
