A case report and literature review of "Chiclero's ulcer".

An 86-year-old man with history of travel to Guatemala presented with a 4-month history of an enlarging ulcerative lesion on his right ear. After several weeks of empiric treatment for otitis externa, histopathology, culture, and PCR analysis of a biopsy specimen confirmed the diagnosis of localized cutaneous leishmaniasis secondary to Leishmania mexicana. Known as "Chiclero's ulcer" in southeast Mexico and Latin America, this unique presentation of cutaneous leishmaniasis is caused mainly by the L. mexicana complex. Infection results in a single ulcerative lesion, most commonly involving the ear pinna, without a tendency for cutaneous metastasis, lymphatic or mucosal involvement. The majority of cases of "Chiclero's ulcer" spontaneously re-epithelialize without treatment within 3-9 months. This patient's lesion completely resolved without therapy after 11 months. "Chiclero's ulcer" should be considered in the differential diagnosis of a patient presenting with a chronic ulcerative lesion and history of travel to an endemic area.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction diagnosis of leishmaniasis in Panama from both fresh and frozen tissue.

Skin biopsies stored in ethanol from 49 patients with suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) were tested in a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and compared with conventional diagnostic methods. With clinical diagnosis as the gold standard, PCR had a sensitivity of 96% (47/49) vs. 61% (30/49) for histopathology and 33% (16/49) for culture. In addition, DNA was extracted from 70 frozen smears of lesions from suspected cases of CL and tested with the same assay. In these samples, the PCR had a sensitivity of 61% (43/70) vs. 56% (39/70) for histopathology and 41% (29/70) for culture. In this study, real-time PCR offered a rapid diagnosis with an enhanced sensitivity over conventional methods. Although the yield of PCR diagnosis was lower when testing frozen smears, the assay still outperformed existing diagnostic modalities.

The domestic dog, a potential reservoir for Leishmania in the Peten region of Guatemala.

In the present study, domestic dogs in a Leishmania endemic area in the Peten Region of Guatemala were sampled to determine if they are a potential reservoir for Leishmania parasites. Blood from 100 dogs from six villages was tested with two different antibody-capture assays for Leishmania-specific antibodies and a 28% seroprevalence was determined. Tissue scrapings from six dogs presenting with chronic lesions characteristic of Leishmania infection were sampled and four dogs were positive by a genus-specific fluorogenic PCR assay. Histopathology by giemsa stain confirmed the presence of amastigotes in one of these dogs. These findings support the hypothesis that dogs may play an important role in the transmission of Leishmania in a region where no mammal has ever been implicated as a reservoir.