TINEA FACIEI IN SENEGAL, A COMMON COMPLIC ATION RELATED TO THE COSMETIC USE OF BLEACHING AGENTS WITH CORTICOSTEROIDS IN AFRICAN ADULT FEMALE

Over a twelve months period, 20 adult cases of tinea faciei with mycol ogic examination were observed at the Dermatologic Universitary Hospit al of Dakar. All patients were female with a meaning age of 30.6 years . Contrary to what has been reported from Europe and North America on white skin, tinea faciei did nor pose diagnosis difficulties in Dakar. In most of our cases (16/20) the lesions appeared as a complication o f cosmetic use of bleaching agents which were topical corticosteroids. Trichophyton soudanense was the most frequently isolated dermatophyte . Epidemiological, clinical and mycological data on tinea faciei in Se negal are different to what has been previously reported from other pa rts of the world.