Cutaneous protothecosis and AIDS.
Cutaneous protothecosis is an uncommon algal infection with a varied clinical presentation that occurs mainly in immunocompromised patients. We describe a 33-year-old Hispanic woman with AIDS who had a verrucous plaque on the dorsum of her hand. A biopsy specimen revealed organisms suggestive of Prototheca. Culture confirmed the organism to be Prototheca wickerhamii. To our knowledge, this is the first case of cutaneous protothecosis reported in a patient with AIDS.
Department of Dermatology, New York Medical College, Metropolitan Hospital Center, NY 10029.
A
A
Woolrich
E
E
Koestenblatt
P
P
Don
W
W
Szaniawski
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D000328:Adult; D003881:Dermatomycoses / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000150:complications* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections; D011525:Prototheca / Q000302:isolation & purification*