Tinea pedis masking a Kaposi's sarcoma.
A 67-year-old white man presented with bilateral blancing erythema and scale of the second through fifth toes extending on to the dorsa and moccasin areas of the feet for two years. The right great toe had subungual debris. No cultures or KOH studies were recorded. A course of tolnaftate cream therapy was initiated. Two years later, the patient returned and complained of no change in his condition. Previously recorded descriptions and diagrams in the medical record confirmed his report. At this time, KOH preparations from the skin and nail were positive for hyphae. He refused to accept medical recommendations for a fungal culture and griseofulvin therapy. He, therefore, was instructed to use miconazole cream twice daily as alternative treatment. One year later, physical examination was unchanged. KOH preparations and fungal cultures of the skin were twice negative. A 4-mm punch skin biopsy specimen of the erythematous patch on the dorsum of the foot was performed. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections revealed a proliferating vascular process in the cutis. Many spindle-shaped cells formed vascular slits and endothelial-lined spaces in which there were erythrocytes. No hyphae were seen. One year after the biopsy specimen was taken, the erythema of his feet persists, and a few nonblanching nodules are visible. He declined further studies.
D000368:Aged; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004890:Erythema / Q000473:pathology; D005658:Fungi / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012514:Sarcoma, Kaposi / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D014008:Tinea Pedis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy
D000935:Antifungal Agents