Subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis caused by Acremonium recifei: case report

• Published in: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 267 - 270
• Main Authors: Zaitz, C, Porto, E, Heins-Vaccari, E M, Sadahiro, A, Ruiz, L R, Müller, H, Lacaz, C da S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Portuguese
• Published: Brazil Instituto de Medicina Tropical 01.06.1995
• Subjects: Acremonium - isolation & purification; Aged; Brazil; Female; Humans; Itraconazole - therapeutic use; Mycetoma - diagnosis; Mycetoma - drug therapy; Mycetoma - pathology; Soil Microbiology; TROPICAL MEDICINE; Brazil; Acremonium recifei; Itraconazol; Subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis
• ISSN: 0036-4665; 1678-9946; 0036-4665
• DOI: 10.1590/S0036-46651995000300015

We present a case of subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis due to Acremonium recifei, a species whose habitat is probably the soil, first identified in 1934 by Arêa Leão and Lobo in a case of podal eumycetoma with white-yellowish grains and initially named Cephalosporium recifei. A white immunocompetent female patient from the state of Bahia, Brazil, with a history of traumatic injury to the right hand is reported. The lesions was painless, with edema, inflammation and the presence of fistulae. Seropurulent secretion with the absence of grains was present. Histopathological examination of material stained with hematoxylin-eosin showed hyaline septate hyphae. A culture was positive for Acremonium recifei. Treatment with itraconazole, 200 mg/day, for two months led to a favorable course and cure of the process. We report for the first time in the literature a case of subcutaneous hyalohyphomycosis due to Acremonium recifei in a immunocompetent woman. Treatment with itraconazole 200 mg/day, for two months, resulted in cure.