[Subcutaneous mycosis due to Scopulariopsis brevicaulis in an aplasic patient]

Among the filamentous fungi of the Hyphomycete class, Annellospore group, the Scopulariopsis genera presently includes 16 species considered as opportunist pathogens. We report some unusual cutaneous manifestations due to Scopulariopsis brevicaulis in an immunodepressed patient.

A 67 year-old man presented with a lymphomatous form of Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. During chemotherapy with medullar aplasia, inflammatory cutaneous nodules appeared on the forearm and leg. Microbiological and histological examinations identified Scopulariopsis brevicaulis. The patient improved with rapid remission from aplasia using hematopoietic growth factors and treatment with itraconazole.

In a patient in medullar aplasia, the rapid onset of an extra-ungual cutaneous localization (forearm and leg) of a Scopulariopsis brevicaulis infection, without systemic involvement, suggests that the cutaneous inoculation occurred through scratching (from the nails) or from another cutaneous origin. Prolonged neutropenia enhanced the pathogenicity of this mycosis. The mycological and histological examinations are fundamental to confirm the diagnosis.