[A case of chronic mucocutaneous candidasis cured with micafungin]

Chronic mucocutaneous candidasis (CMC) is a chronic intractable infection of skin, nails, and mucous membrane with Candida. Until very recently, the main stay of therapy had been the use of transfer factor or antifungal azole derivatives. Although they show definite benefits, the effects are temporal and recurrences are inevitable. Furthermore, the prolonged use of antifungals will sometimes induce resistant strains, making the treatment more difficult. Recently we experienced a case of CMC caused by resistant Candida spp. and treated it successfully with a new antifungal agent, micafungin (MCFG). The patient is a 37-year-old woman. She was eight month, her tongue was covered with a white coat. Two months later, intractable cutaneous eruptions appeared on the head and back and the diagnosis of CMC was made. Since then she has been treated on multiple occasions with transfer factor, recombinant IL-2, ketoconazole or clotrimazole. She was referred to us because of esophageal candidiasis. On admission, oral and esophageal mucous membranes were thickly coated with white pseudomembranes. The titer of Candida antigen test was less than twice ; plasma beta-D-gulcan was 20.14 pg/mL ; and CD4 was 376/microL. A few Candida albicans and (1+) Candida glabrata were cultured from oral swab. Both species were resistant to itraconazole but sensitive to MCFG and amphotericin B (MIC: < 0.03microg/ml for both). A drip infusion of MCFG (75mg/day) was started and three days later the oral lesions disappeared. At the end of a 2-week course of i. v. MCFG, the interior of the esophagus was clear. No recurrence was noted in one month. Less toxic than amphotericin B, MCFG will be a drug of choice in patients infected with azole-resistant fungi. To avoid the abuse of MCFG and the development of the resistant strains, the susceptibility test is recommended in every case of systemic candidiasis.