Deep Facial Mycosis Due to Trichophyton Verrucosum—Molecular Genetic Identification of the Dermatophyte in Paraffin-Embedded Tissue—Case Report and Review of the Literature
November 2017
in “
Mycoses
”
TLDR An 80-year-old man's deep beard infection was cured with oral terbinafine after identifying the fungus Trichophyton verrucosum.
An 80-year-old male with severe sycosis barbae, unresponsive to systemic antibiotics, was found to have a deep fungal infection caused by Trichophyton verrucosum. Initial microbial tests identified Staphylococcus haemolyticus and Candida parapsilosis, but histology and molecular genetic analysis of paraffin-embedded tissue confirmed T. verrucosum. Treatment with oral terbinafine led to complete remission. The case highlighted the importance of considering sycosis barbae in differential diagnoses for bearded area infections and demonstrated the efficacy of nucleic acid amplification techniques (NAAT), including qRT-PCR and ITS2 PCR assays, for the rapid and specific detection of dermatophytes in clinical and paraffin-embedded samples.
