IMAGING IN TROPICAL DERMATOLOGY

 

Pedroso and Gomes' verrucous Dermatitis (Chromoblastomycosis): 90 years on and still among us

 

 

Paulo Ricardo Criado^I; Neuza Yuriko Sakai Valente^II; Hebert Roberto Clivati Brandt^III; Walter Belda Junior^IV; Ilana Halpern^V

^IDoctorate in Sciences (Dermatology) awarded by the School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP). Dermatopathologist, Department of Dermatology; Investigator in Medical Mycology, Teaching Hospital, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Valente NYS
^IIDoctorate in Sciences (Dermatology) awarded by the School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP). Dermatopathologist, Department of Dermatology; Investigator in Medical Mycology, Teaching Hospital, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Valente NYS
^IIISpecialist Certificate in Dermatology awarded by the Brazilian Society of Dermatology. Dermatologist, Department of Dermatology, São Paulo Municipal Public Service Hospital, São Paulo, Brazil. Brandt HRC
^IVFaculty, State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). Doctorate awarded by the School of Medicine, University of São Paulo (USP), São Paulo, Brazil. Professor of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Belda Jr
^VPathologist, Dermatopathology Division, Department of Dermatology, Teaching Hospital, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Halpern I

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ABSTRACT

In this report, the authors describe the clinical case of a woman seeking care at this dermatology outpatient clinic with a verrucous plaque on her left elbow.

Keywords: Chromoblastomycosis; Mycoses; Skin diseases

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A 75-year old female agricultural worker from Ipatinga in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais (latitude 19o 28' 06" and longitude 42o 32' 12", located at an altitude of 240 meters above sea level) reported a lesion on her elbow of around two years' duration. Anatomopathology established a diagnosis of chromoblastomycosis, a condition that was described in a Brazilian journal 90 years ago by Alexandrino Pedroso and Jose Maria Gomes.¹ The first description of this infection was published by a German physician, Max W. Rudolph (1887-1955), who in 1914 studied six cases of the disease, which is referred to in Brazil as "figueira". ² Chromoblastomycosis consists of a chronic fungal infection of the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous cell tissue, which occurs in tropical climates and in temperate regions of Latin America, where the most common etiological agent is Fonsecaea pedrosoi³. The fungus isolated from a fragment of skin taken from the patient in the present report confirmed this diagnosis.

 

 

 

 

REFERENCES

1. Pedroso A, Gomes JM. Sobre quatro casos de dermatite verrucosa produzida por Phialophora verrucosa. An Paul Med Cir. 1920;11:53-61.         [ Links ]

2. Rudolph M. ber die brasilianische 'Figueira' (Vorläufige Mitteilung). Archiev Schiffs und Tropen-Hyg. 1914;18:498-9.         [ Links ]

3. Silva CMP, Marques SG, Silva RB, Sousa Jr SS, Menezes Jr DRT, Costa JML. Cromoblastomicose tratada com itraconazol sistêmico associado a anfotericina B intralesional. An Bras Dermatol. 1999;74:41-4.         [ Links ]

 

 

Mailing Address:
Paulo Ricardo Criado
Rua Carneiro Leão, 33 Vila Scarpelli
09050 430 Santo André, SP

Article submitted on: December 23, 2009, 11:08:07.
Financial support: None
Conflicts of interest: None

 

 

* Study conducted in the Department of Dermatology, Teaching Hospital, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.