Case reports

Infectious diseases
Volume 197 - Issue 6

Chromoblastomycosis in a Solomon Islander

Authors:  James Knox and Caroline Marshall

Med J Aust 2012; 197 (6): 350. || doi: 10.5694/mja12.10006
Published online: 17 September 2012
A 71-year-old farmer from the Solomon Islands presented in Melbourne with fungating skin lesions on his left lower leg. The process began 20 years earlier, leaving areas of scarring between the active sites (Figure, A and B). He was otherwise well. A skin biopsy showed granulomatous inflammation with sclerotic bodies characteristic of chromoblastomycosis (Figure, C), and Fonsecaea pedrosoi was subsequently cultured and confirmed by ribosomal DNA internal ...
Download PDF (101 KB)
Share: Share on Blue Sky Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share by email

A 71-year-old farmer from the Solomon Islands presented in Melbourne with fungating skin lesions on his left lower leg. The process began 20 years earlier, leaving areas of scarring between the active sites (Figure, A and B). He was otherwise well.

A skin biopsy showed granulomatous inflammation with sclerotic bodies characteristic of chromoblastomycosis (Figure, C), and Fonsecaea pedrosoi was subsequently cultured and confirmed by ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacer sequencing. Treatment combining surgical debridement, terbinafine and itraconazole is planned.

Although chromoblastomycosis occurs in the tropics worldwide, it is seldom reported in Pacific Island nations.1 Advanced presentations such as this are not uncommon in endemic areas.2

1 Figure

View this article on Wiley Online Library

More like this

View more