Case of chromoblastomycosis appearing in an Okinawa patient with a medical history of Hansen's disease.

ABSTRACT

Chromoblastomycosis is one of several chronic infectious skin diseases caused by various species of dematiaceous fungi. It is clinically characterized by verrucous skin eruptions and occurs most commonly in tropical and subtropical regions. In Okinawa, a subtropical area, there have been only three reported cases of chromoblastomycosis including the present one. Direct microscopic examination of crust specimens and findings of sclerotic cells in histopathology can confirm the diagnosis, and cultures of crust and/or tissue specimens can identify the causative fungi. We herein report the third case of chromoblastomycosis in Okinawa; it arose in an 87-year-old Japanese woman with a history of Hansen's disease, who lived in a leprosarium in Miyako Island. To identify the causative agent as Fonsecaea pedrosoi, we used the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing analysis in addition to the usual methods, which include 20% potassium hydroxide microscopy, histopathological confirmation of sclerotic cells by periodic acid-Schiff stain, culture by Sabouraud's glucose agar, slide culture method, and observation of conidia by scanning electron microscopic examination.