Tinea imbricata or Tokelau

Tinea imbricata (TI) or Tokelau is a superficial mycosis caused by Trichophyton concentricum , an anthropophilic dermatophyte. It is endemic in some islands of the South Pacific (Polynesia), South‐East Asia, Central and South America, and Mexico, and is most often seen in individuals living in primitive and isolated conditions. The skin lesions are characteristically concentric and lamellar ( imbricata : in Latin, tiled) plaques of scale. Predisposing conditions include humidity, inheritance, and immunologic factors. The diagnosis is usually made on clinical grounds, supported by skin scrapings and culture. Tokelau is a chronic and highly relapsing disease and, although no first‐line treatment exists, best results are obtained with oral griseofulvin and terbinafine and a topical combination of keratolytic ointments, such as Whitfield's. TI is a disease model that allows the correlation of a series of environmental, genetic, immunologic, and therapeutic conditions.