[Hendersonula toruloidea, causative agent of a fungal verrucous dermatitis observed in Algeria]

A verrucose dermatitis of the face, accompanied by onychomycosis was observed in a 30 years old male living in Algeria. He was born there and 15 years previously he had been treated successfully for "Dermatophytic disease" due to Trichophyton verrucosum. A deficiency in his cellular immune mechanism was noted at that time. On this occasion Hendersonula toruloidea was isolated from facial lesions and affected nails. The infection of the face, but not the nails, responded to treatment with amphotericin B. In the facial lesions, the fungus was present as single cell units sometimes with a false bud or a short hyphal extension. Cross walls were occasionally present but the cell walls were not pigmented. Intratesticular inoculation of the isolates to guinea pigs resulted in an infection in which the morphology of the fungus conformed to that found in the facial lesions. In cultures, the isolates of H. toruloidea conformed to the descriptions in literature, although pycnidia were not formed.