The Superficial Mycoses L73 



(hi Clink \i characteristics.— The disease is confined to scalp hair 

 of women in South America. The European and Asiatic variety affects onl) 

 the male heard and mustache, never the scalp. The nodules of both varie- 

 ties arc 1 stonx hard and light or dark .brown. In the Colombian variety the) 

 may be so small that they can be felt but not readily seen; iii the other type, 

 the nodules are usually large enough to be seen. From one to 25 may be 

 present on one hair. 



(c) DIAGNOSIS.— The color and location of the nodes are different from 

 those of lepothrix, which are yellow or red and confined to the axillae. Nits 

 project out typicalh , are accompanied by pruritus, and pedicnli may usually 

 be found. Monilethrix and trichorrhexis nodosa may be simulated, but these 

 diseases are readily distinguished if the hair is examined microscopically. 



(d) Thkatmkxt.— Shaving is a certain cure. Vigorous shampooing and 

 the application of 1:2,000 solution of bichloride of mercury are also advo- 

 cated. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 



McCarthy, L.: Diagnosis and Treatment of Diseases of the Hair (St. Louis: C. V. Mosby 

 Company, 1940). 



13. CHROMOBLASTOMYCOSIS (DERMATITIS VERRUCOSA) 



For the few cases that have been reported, there is a remarkably wide 

 geographic range. In the United States, cases have been reported from 

 Boston, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Florida. 

 The majority of cases have been recognized in South America, Puerto Rico 

 and Cuba. An instance of an infection in the Dominican Republic was re- 

 ported by Carrion and Pimentel-Imbert. According to Conant et ah, it has 

 also been observed in Russia, Japan and South Africa. 



(a) Etiology.— According to Carrion, three fungi are recognized as 

 causative. Both he and Emmons stated the belief that there is a generic 

 relation between them. The fungi are Hormodendrnm pedrosoi, Hormo- 

 dendrum compactum and Phialophora verrucosa. Conant and Martin also 

 included Hormodendrnm langeroni as a proved cause. According to Weid- 

 man. infection usually takes a direct route from the exterior following 

 injury, particularly from wood. Most patients are mature males, predomi- 

 nantly of the working class. 



(b) Immunologic reactions.— Conant and Martin noted that the 

 serums of rabbits immunized with II. pedrosoi and II. compactum had 

 a high titer of complement-fixing antibodies for their respective antigens 

 and for each other. With P. verrucosa and II. langeroni. complement-fixing 

 bodies were present only for the homologous fungus. 



