title: Case of chromoblastomycosis appearing in an Okinawa patient with a medical history of Hansen's disease.
abstract: Chromoblastomycosis is one of several chronic infectious skin diseases caused by various species of dematiaceous fungi. It is clinically characterized by verrucous skin eruptions and occurs most commonly in tropical and subtropical regions. In Okinawa, a subtropical area, there have been only three reported cases of chromoblastomycosis including the present one. Direct microscopic examination of crust specimens and findings of sclerotic cells in histopathology can confirm the diagnosis, and cultures of crust and/or tissue specimens can identify the causative fungi. We herein report the third case of chromoblastomycosis in Okinawa; it arose in an 87-year-old Japanese woman with a history of Hansen's disease, who lived in a leprosarium in Miyako Island. To identify the causative agent as Fonsecaea pedrosoi, we used the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing analysis in addition to the usual methods, which include 20% potassium hydroxide microscopy, histopathological confirmation of sclerotic cells by periodic acid-Schiff stain, culture by Sabouraud's glucose agar, slide culture method, and observation of conidia by scanning electron microscopic examination.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Organ-oriented Medicine, Okinawa, Japan. hihuka@jim.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyagi
authors.forename: Yu-ichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Shinako
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanamori
authors.forename: Kiyohito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Taira
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asato
authors.forename: Chomar Kaung
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Myint
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kayo
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hosokawa
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hagiwara
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Uezato
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002862:Chromoblastomycosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D015440:Leprosy, Lepromatous / Q000150:complications; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal