Which description best matches the look of tinea capitis?

• A. Gray, scaly patches accompanied by mild hair loss
• B. Well-defined, round, erythematous, scaly plaque with raised borders
• C. Found on face, head, neck, and upper extremities and present as clustered, tense vesicles on an erythematous base
• D. Umbilicated, flesh-colored to light-pink pearly capsules, measuring 1-10mm in diameter

Answer: (A)

Tinea capitis presents as patchy involvement of the scalp with scaling and hair shedding. The classic description is gray, scaly patches with mild hair loss, which reflects fungal invasion of the hair shafts and follicles causing the hair to break and the patches to appear as lighter, scaly areas on the scalp. Sometimes patches are accompanied by more inflammatory lesions (kerion) or by short broken hairs that look like “black dots” at the scalp surface.

The other patterns described fit different conditions: a well-defined round plaque with raised borders is more typical of tinea corporis (body ringworm), clustered vesicles on an erythematous base suggest herpes or varicella–type infections, and umbilicated pearly lesions describe molluscum contagiosum.