Familial pityriasis versicolor.

Abstract

Pityriasis versicolor is an epidermal mycosis. Its causative agent is a fungus -Pityrosporum ovale- living as saprophyte on the skin. Turning into the threadlike form (Malassezia furfur), it is responsible for the disease. This yeast is characteristically lipophilic. This is why pityriasis versicolor is exceptional in the prepubertal age, when the sebaceous secretion is scarce, due to the low level of androgens (1, 2, 3). Therefore, pityriasis versicolor is characteristic of the adolescence and adulthood. However, it is also present in the first period of life, maybe due to the hormonal stimulation of maternal gonadotropins. This is why pityriasis versicolor, although present in children, has two peaks of incidence, in the first year and in the peripubertal age. Its lesions, which in the adult mainly affect the trunk, in children mainly involve the face (4).