[Pitted keratolysis of hyperkeratotic form and isolation of the etiologic agent: Corynebacterium sp]

Two cases of "pitted keratolysis" with a very accentuated plantar hyperkeratosis, and the isolation on chocolate thelurite agar of the presumptive etiologic agent, Corynebacterium sp., is presented. In order to keep permanently in mind, for a proper diagnosis, the original description of the disease as "keratoma plantare sulcatum" (Castellani, 1910), we are proposing to distinguish two different clinical forms: The hyperkeratotic one and the common or usual form of "pitted keratolysis" with keratolysis as the main sign. The prosecution of our biochemical studies with a significant number of strains isolated from both "pitted keratolysis" and from classical erythrasma cases, will surely permit us to definitively determine if all of them should or not be assimilated to Corynebacterium minutissimum.