Pubic Majocchi's Granuloma Unresponsive to Itraconazole Successfully Treated with Oral Terbinafine

Majocchi's granuloma (MG) is an uncommon deep fungal infection. It is usually caused by Trichophyton rubrum and may develop in any hair-bearing skin, commonly on the face and the extremities. We present a 27-year-old female with MG of the pubic area treated unsuccessfully with itraconazole capsule 100 mg for 4 weeks. The medication was discontinued and switched to terbinafine, which proved efficacious. The pubic tinea clinically presented in conjunction with fever, lymphadenopathy, inflammatory plaques, follicular lesions and subcutaneous nodules. It was considered that the fungal infection was initially transmitted from skin to skin during sexual practices with her husband. The repeated shaving of her pubic area, the misdiagnosis as bacterial infection and the use of topical corticosteroid on a preexistent tinea probably predisposed the patient to MG.