Cutaneous Mycobacterium avium intracellulare infection in an HIV+ patient mimicking histoid leprosy.

ABSTRACT

Cutaneous infections with Mycobacterium avium intracellulare (MAI) are uncommon in healthy patients but may arise in those with underlying immunocompromise, including patients with HIV. Their clinical manifestations are protean. We report an AIDS patient with a cutaneous MAI infection that clinically and histopathologically mimicked histoid leprosy, a presentation not previously described in this population.