Review of two Japanese cases with tinea faciei identified by molecular biological techniques as Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii

Abstract

A 26-year-old female (Case 1) presented with scaly erythema on the left cheek. positive direct microscopic examination results indicated a diagnosis of tinea faciei. Colonies were isolated after incubation on Mycosel agar medium. Trichophyton mentagrophytes was morphologically identified based on giant colony formation and slide culture. Furthermore, nucleotide sequence analysis of the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region of the rDNA gene identified Arthroderma vanbreuseghemii. The patient had 9 cats in her home, and similar colonies were isolated from 2 of these 9 cats by the hairbrush culture method. The isolated organism was identified as A. vanbreuseghemii, suggesting the cats to be the source of infection. An 11-year-old boy (Case 2) had palm-sized erythematous plaques from the nasal base to the area around the left eye and on the left cheek. Positive direct microscopic examination results indicated a diagnosis of tinea faciei. The patient had been treated with topical steroids for 6 weeks before the onset of these manifestations. The isolated organism was identified as A. vanbreuseghemii. His dog and two cats were tested but did not appear to be the source of infection. Since 2000, there have been 25 cases of tinea in Japan, identified as A. vanbreuseghemii by molecular biological techniques. Twelve cases had tinea on the face, and 11 had used topical steroids. A. vanbreuseghemii was found to be one of the important pathogens in tinea faciei.