Dermoscopic features of actinomycetoma: a case series.

Dermoscopy of mycetoma has white structures as the predominant feature, while white scale and yellowish structures were also consistent in our findings with available literature.

Ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology significantly improved mycetoma diagnosis.

BACKGROUND: Ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (US-FNAC) has improved the diagnosis of many malignancies, infections and other diseases as it is safe, simple, quick and accurate. In mycetoma, it is assumed that this technique may have a better diagnostic yield than the conventional FNAC as it can accurately identify the optimal site for the aspiration. OBJECTIVE: To compare the diagnostic yield of conventional FNAC with US-FNAC. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based study included 80 patients with clinically suspected mycetoma. RESULTS: Of the 80 patients included, 35 proved to have actinomycetoma, and 37 had eumycetoma based on surgical biopsies, histopathological examination and the culture of grains. Eight patients appeared to have no mycetoma. For actinomycetoma diagnosis, the US-guided FNAC improved sensitivity to 97% and negative predictive value (NPV) to 83% compared to the conventional FNAC, which had 63% sensitivity; and NPV of 28%. No improvement was found for specificity. For eumycetoma, the conventional FNAC had 86.5% sensitivity, 100% specificity, 100% PPV and 37.5% NPV. The US-FNAC for the diagnosis of eumycetoma had 100% sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The obtained results showed that US-FNAC is better than the conventional FNAC with lower false-negative results. It can accurately distinguish between the two types of mycetoma, allowing rapid initiation of proper treatment. The technique can be used in rural areas with low resources and for epidemiological surveys as a quick screening tool for patients suspected of mycetoma.

Transtubular excisional biopsy as a rescue for a non-diagnostic stereotactic needle biopsy-case report and literature review.

Stereotactic needle biopsy, a standard of care for acquiring deep-seated pathology, has limitations and risks in some situations. We present an uncommon case with basal ganglia dematiaceous mycetoma. Due to the firm consistency of the lesion, the initial stereotactic needle biopsy failed to provide a diagnosis. In a second operation, transtubular excisional biopsy was successfully performed to remove the entire mycetoma. We reviewed recent case series of transtubular approaches to deep-seated brain lesions and suggest this method could be a rescue for a non-diagnostic stereotactic needle biopsy and even may be the approach of choice in some cases.

Fungus ball in concha bullosa: an unusual cause of retro-orbital pain.

Fungus ball in the concha bullosa is an extremely rare disease. We described a case of the fungus ball in the concha bullosa in a 22-year-old woman. Preoperative diagnosis was based on nasal endoscopy and computed tomography scanning. The patient was endoscopically operated on. The examination of the removed material was reported as fungal infection. This case was found worth writing because of the location of the concha bullosa and its rare occurrence in this location.

Evaluation of a computational model for mycetoma-causative agents identification.

BACKGROUND: The therapeutic strategy for mycetoma relies heavily on the identification of the causative agents, which are either fungal or bacterial. While histopathological examination of surgical biopsies is currently the most used diagnostic tool, it requires well-trained pathologists, who are lacking in most rural areas where mycetoma is endemic. In this work we propose and evaluate a machine learning approach that semi-automatically analyses histopathological microscopic images of grains and provides a classification of the disease as eumycetoma or actinomycetoma. METHODS: The computational model is based on radiomics and partial least squares. It is assessed on a dataset that includes 890 individual grains collected from 168 patients originating from the Mycetoma Research Centre in Sudan. The dataset contained 94 eumycetoma cases and 74 actinomycetoma cases, with a distribution of the species among the two causative agents that is representative of the Sudanese distribution. RESULTS: The proposed model achieved identification of causative agents with an accuracy of 91.89%, which is comparable to the accuracy of experts from the domain. The method was found to be robust to a small error in the segmentation of the grain and to changes in the acquisition protocol. Among the radiomics features, the homogeneity of mycetoma grain textures was found to be the most discriminative feature for causative agent identification. CONCLUSION: The results presented in this study support that this computational approach could greatly benefit rural areas with limited access to specialized clinical centres and also provide a second opinion for expert pathologists to implement the appropriate therapeutic strategy.

Giant Candida mycetoma in an ascending aorta tubular graft.

We report the case of a 46-year-old male hospitalized for abdominal pain and fever with history of a David procedure followed by an aortic valve replacement due to severe aortic regurgitation. Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and computed tomography showed a large mass floating in the aorta. After surgical excision of the vegetation, attached to the Dacron prosthesis, histological examination revealed Candida hyphae and spores confirming the diagnosis of a mycetoma in an ascending aorta tubular graft. At six-month follow-up, the patient was in good clinical condition without recurrence of the fungal mass on TEE.

Candida bezoars with urinary tract obstruction in two women without immunocompromising conditions.

More than half of the cases of fungal infections of the urinary tract are caused by Candida sp., but occurrence of obstructive uropathy caused by mycetomas or fungus balls (urobezoars) is extremely rare. The latter are conglomerates of fungal hyphae. Diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression, chronic disease, and malignancies are known predisposing factors. Preoperative imaging is not pathognomonic; blood clots, radiolucent urinary calculi, air bubbles, and inflammatory debris can mimic urobezoars. We report on two otherwise healthy women presenting with urinary tract obstruction caused by candidal mycetomas of the renal pelvis that mimicked matrix lithiasis.

Mycetoma imaging: the best practice.

Mycetoma is a recognised neglected tropical disease that for a long time has been accorded inadequate attention across the globe. It is a chronic destructive inflammatory disease caused by fungi (eumycetoma) or actinomycetes (actinomycetoma). Mycetoma treatment depends on an accurate and precise diagnosis. The cornerstone for proper disease diagnosis is identification of the causative organisms, but also critical for diagnosis and management planning is determination of its extent along and across tissue planes. An initial diagnosis is made after clinical assessment. Clinical examination alone does not identify the causative organism nor does it detect the spread of disease along the different tissue planes and bone. Imaging techniques, such as radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging can be used to determine the extent of lesions. In this communication, the Mycetoma Research Centre, World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Mycetoma, University of Khartoum, presents its experience and recommendations on mycetoma diagnostic imaging.

18- and 70-MHz Ultrasonography of Actinomycetoma of the Foot Correlated with Clinical and Histologic Findings.

We present the ultrasonographic morphology of an actinomycetoma of the foot at 18 and 70 MHz (high-frequency and ultrahigh-frequency ultrasound, respectively), and describe an ultrasonographic sign that may help to discriminate between eumycetoma and actinomycetoma called the "bright hyperechoic halo." To date, this is the first report on the morphology of mycetoma at 70 MHz with a clinical, ultrasonographic, and histologic correlation of the images, which provides ultrasound images that are very similar to the lower magnification of histology.

Pulmonary Madurella mycetomatis mycetoma secondary to knee eumycetoma, Senegal.

Mycetoma is a neglected tropical disease which is endemic in Senegal. Although this subcutaneous mycosis is most commonly found on the foot, extrapodal localisations have also been found, including on the leg, knee, thigh, hand, and arm. To our knowledge, no case of blood-spread eumycetoma has been reported in Senegal. Here, we report a case of pulmonary mycetoma secondary to a Madurella mycetomatis knee eumycetoma. The patient was a 41-year-old farmer living in Louga, Senegal, where the Sudano-Sahelian climate is characterised by a short and unstable rainy season and a steppe vegetation. He suffered a trauma to the right more than 20 years previously and had received treatment for more than 10 years with traditional medicine. He consulted at Le Dantec University Hospital in Dakar for treatment of a right knee mycetoma which had been diagnosed more than 10 years ago. He had experienced a chronic cough for more than a year; tuberculosis documentation was negative. Grains collected from the knee and the sputum isolated M. mycetomatis, confirmed by the rRNA gene ITS regions nucleotide sequence analysis. An amputation above the knee was performed, and antibacterial and antifungal therapy was started with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid and terbinafine. The patient died within a month of his discharge from hospital.

Characterization of Foot Mycetoma Using Sonography and Color Doppler Imaging.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Mycetoma of the foot, commonly referred to as Madura foot, is a chronic granulomatous infection, which impacts vascularization of the affected region. This study aimed to evaluate foot mycetoma using Doppler and sonography techniques to identify the principle sonographic features and blood flow patterns associated with the condition. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional prospective single-center study conducted at the Mycetoma Research Center (MCR) in Khartoum State, Sudan. Sixty patients with Madura foot were examined using a Duplex ultrasound machine with a 7-10 MHZ linear probe. Data was analyzed using SPSS software. The distribution of demographic data was evaluated by simple descriptive statistics. Statistical tests was performed using Student's independent t-tests to compare different forms of mycetoma and Chi-square tests to examine differences in blood flow patterns between fungal (eumycetoma) and bacterial (actinomycetoma) forms of the infection. RESULTS: The presence of multiple cavities and aggregated grains were more common in eumycetoma than in actinomycetoma. The echotexture was significantly more heterogeneous in eumycetoma than in actinomycetoma (p = 0.03). Eumycetoma had higher vascularity than actinomycetoma. CONCLUSION: Mycetoma has characteristic sonographic features and patterns of vascularity, which are essential to differentiate between the fungal and bacterial forms of mycetoma.

Pseudallescheria boydii (Scedosporium species) in 3 lung transplant recipients: computed tomography findings and literature review.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to evaluate chest computed tomography (CT) findings in 3 lung transplant recipients infected with Pseudallescheria boydii complex or its asexual anamorph, Scedosporium apiospermum, 2 after double-lung transplant and 1 after single-lung transplantation. Awareness and early diagnosis of this rare but potentially lethal infection are important, as it is largely refractory to treatment with the antifungal agents of choice used for the more common Aspergillus species. Computed tomography investigation focused on the location, quality, and appearance of the various pulmonary lesions as well as the presence of cavitation, mediastinal lymphadenopathy, and pleural effusions. A literature review of previous lung and other solid organ transplant recipients infected with pulmonary Pseudallescheria boydii was also conducted and compared with our findings. CONCLUSION: While the high-resolution CT findings of pulmonary P. boydii infection are nonspecific and markedly similar to the manifestations of the more common Aspergillus species, awareness of this rare opportunist is important, given the high mortality associated with disseminated infection and the relative success possible with timely and appropriate treatment. The most common CT abnormalities present in our 3 patients included hilar and paratracheal adenopathy, noncavitary tree-in-bud nodules surrounded by ground-glass opacities, and airway thickening.

The importance of diagnostic imaging of mycetoma in the foot.

BACKGROUND: Mycetoma is a chronic, localized infection caused by fungi and bacteria. It usually affects the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and bone of exposed areas with deformity of the affected limb, ulcers, and fistula; however, pain is not severe, therefore the patient comes late to hospital for care. OBJECTIVE: To establish the diagnosis of mycetoma in the foot by imaging and identify the principal radiological signs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six patients with foot mycetoma were evaluated with plain x-ray, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance (MR) after confirming the diagnosis by histopathology and culture. RESULTS: All patients presented the MR "dot-in-circle" sign; four presented "punched out" bone lesions on plain x-ray. The six patients had fistulas, ulceration, a seropurulent exudate, edema, and a foot deformity. Four patients had N. brasiliensis infection with positive anti-Nocardia IgG antibodies, and only half presented bone lesions. CONCLUSION: Characteristic findings were foot deformity, edema, bone lesions, ulcers, fistulas and the presence of the "dot-in-circle" sign. We recommend a comprehensive study of patients with plain x-ray and MR.

Chronic Madura foot: mycetoma and/or Actinomyces spp or actinomycosis.

A 58-year-old agricultural worker from a remote Western province farming community in Saudi Arabia presented with a 2-year history of right plantar foot soft tissue mass. According to the patient, the swelling had gradually increased in size over a few years, but it was painless and thus had not restricted him from continuing to farm until the lesion started to affect mobility. An MRI, microbiology and histopathology reported a rare infectious agent-Actinomyces spp, otherwise referred to as Madura foot. Three-dimensional CT aided in a preoperative surgical plan which included mass excision/debulking for this challenging lesion. Full eradication was not possible, and the patient required prolonged anti-infective therapy (>6 months) along with close surveillance to map resolution of infective symptoms.