Cutaneous Mycobacterium chelonae in a liver transplant patient

A 51-year-old woman with an orthotopic liver transplant on tacrolimus (SKF 506) and prednisone presented with an erythematous ulcerated nodule on the knee. No preceding trauma was noted. A skin biopsy specimen demonstrated beaded gram-positive, acid-fast rods and the skin culture grew Mycobacterium chelonae (formerly M chelonae subsp chelonae ). This report describes the first case in a liver transplant patient of cutaneous Mycobacterium chelonae under the current method of designating atypical Mycobacterium species.