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Chromoblastomycosis as an endemic disease in temperate Europe: first confirmed case and review of the literature

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Abstract

This study reports a case of a 56-year-old white male, retired coal-miner, diagnosed with chromoblastomycosis lasting 20 years. The infection site was the burnt skin of the back. For many years the patient had not undertaken any treatment believing that the lesion had been a burn scar. A gradual increase in lesion size prompted the patient to start therapy. The diagnosis was made by histopathological examination and mycological culture. Identification of the causative agent at the species level was achieved by sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and D1/D2 domains of the 26S rDNA. To our knowledge, this is the first documented case of chromoblastomycosis caused by Fonsecaea monophora in temperate Europe, outside the endemic area for the disease. This finding is highly significant for understanding the routes of infection of chromoblastomycosis and radically revises the traditional view of the natural ecology of the etiological agents of the disease.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Specialist Hospital, Zabrze, Poland

    M. Pindycka-Piaszczyńska & J. Jarząb

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, Dermatology and Allergology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

    M. Pindycka-Piaszczyńska & J. Jarząb

  3. Department of Mycology Chair of Microbiology, Jagiellonian University - Medical College, Kraków, Poland

    P. Krzyściak

  4. Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

    M. Piaszczyński

  5. Multispecialist Medical Clinic “SPECJAL-MED”, Zabrze, Poland

    S. Cieślik

  6. Department of Pathology, Teaching Hospital No. 7, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

    K. Januszewski

  7. Department of General Biology, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland

    G. Izdebska-Straszak

  8. CBS-KNAW Fungal Biodiversity Centre, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    S. de Hoog

  9. Department of Applied Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, I. Miecznikowa 1, 02-096, Warsaw, Poland

    T. Jagielski

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  1. M. Pindycka-Piaszczyńska
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Correspondence to T. Jagielski.

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Pindycka-Piaszczyńska, M., Krzyściak, P., Piaszczyński, M. et al. Chromoblastomycosis as an endemic disease in temperate Europe: first confirmed case and review of the literature. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 33, 391–398 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-013-1969-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-013-1969-7

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