Abstract

Alternaria is a common saprophytic fungus found in the environment such as soil, air, and a variety of objects. The cutaneous infection caused by this fungus occurs more frequent in patients with immunocompromission than in immunocompetent people. We report a case of cutaneous alternariosis in a 63-year-old woman presented with a tender erythematous patch on the right forearm. She was on medication only for hypertension. Histopathologic examination showed a dermal mixed-cell infiltrate including multinucleated giant cells. PAS staining revealed fungal elements in the dermis. Microscopic examination of the colonies showed muriform conidia. A diagnosis of cutaneous infection due to Alternaria species was made on the basis of the above mentioned findings. Oral administration of

fluconazole revealed resolution of her cutaneous lesion.

Keywords

Alternaria Cutaneous alternariosis Fluconazole

KJMM 2010 December;15(4):182-187(6). Epub 2016 February 18
Copyright © 2010 by Korean Journal of Medical Mycology

Language

Korean/English

Author

Chin-Ho Rhee; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
Kyung-Hwa Nam; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
Yong-Sun Cho; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
Ki-Hun Song; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
Soek-Kweon Yun; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea
Han-Uk Kim; Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Corresponding

Han-Uk Kim, Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea. Tel: (063) 250-1877, Fax: (063) 250-1970, e-mail: hanukkim@jbnu.ac.kr

Publication history

Received 14 October 2010; Revised 22 November 2010; Accepted 22 November 2010.

Acknowledgements

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Chin-Ho Rhee

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Kyung-Hwa Nam

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Yong-Sun Cho

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Ki-Hun Song

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Soek-Kweon Yun

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Han-Uk Kim

Department of Dermatology, Chonbuk National University Medical School, Jeonju, Korea

Since epub date 2016 February 18