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Lacaziosis Presentation prepared by:
Omair, Mohney, Bischoff
Emedicine.medscape.com
mycology.adelaide.edu
mycology.adelaide.edu.
Lacaziosis Terms 1938-Originally called Lobo disease
1958-The name lobomycosis was applied
2005-The name lacaziosis was made the official term for condition
Jorge Lobo first described this as keloidal blastomycosis in a patient from the Amazon Valley of Brazil
dermatlas.med.jhmi.edu
Lacaziosis Taxonomy Kingdom: Fungi
Phylum: Zygomycota
Subphylum: Zygomycotina
Order: Entomophthorales
Family: Uncertain
Genus: Lacazia
Species:Loboa loboi, Lacazia loboi(most recent name),
Lacaziosis Distribution Self-limited, chronic infection of the skin endemic
in rural regions of South America and Central America
Since the original report, has also been reported by North Americans traveling to endemic areas Only 1 case of lobomycosis has been reported in the
United States
Also reported in 2 species of Atlantic dolphins, and 1 marine park dolphin trainer
scielo.org.ve oceanservice.noaa.gov
Lacaziosis Life Cycle A yeast-like fungus, with aquatic environment
needed for life cycle
Slow growth, only with long incubation
Unfortunately, cannot be grown in culture, therefore, not much is known of the environment needed for growth
microbeworld.org In pus from a lesion
saber.ula.ve Stain of loboa loboi
How people are affected: Traumatic implantation most often the case
Arthropod sting
Snake bite
Sting-ray sting
Wound acquired while cutting vegetation
jcm.asm.org First human case of lobomycosis
nejm.org ucsantacruz.ucnrs.org
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Who is affected: Wide age range between 12 and 70 years
No ethnic predominance and all races seem to be equally susceptible
Occupation of those affected tend to be persons who carry out agricultural activities, as well those dedicated to fishing, hunting and mining
90% of cases are men
superstock.com telegraph.co.uk
Lacaziosis Symptoms Cutaneous & subcutaneous
Begin as small, hard nodules
Keloids, nodular lesions, crusty plaques, and tumors
Developing lesions are smooth, painless, and well defined, move around a bit, because on top of tissue
Older lesions can become ulcerative
Lesions are usually found on the arms, legs, face or ears
May be transferred to other areas of of the skin by further trauma or autoinoculation
Jcm.asm.org Lobomycosis of leg
Symptoms (cont.) Lesions are composed of
granulomatous inflammatory tissue containing numerous globose or subglobose or
lemon-shaped, yeast-like fungal cells singly or in simple and branched chains.
elsevierimages.com
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emedicine.medscape.com
Diagnosis of Lacoziosis A tissue sample is obtained by curettage,or surgical
biopsy
Then this tissue can either be macerated and mounted in 10% KOH and Parker ink or calcofluor white mounts or
Tissue sections can be stained using Grocott's methenamine silver or Gram stains
If present, dark, spheres of yeast-like organisms will show, known as Loboa loboi, often in chains
Presently no serological tests available mycology.adelaide.edu.au
Treatment Wide surgical excision of affected area
Relapse often occurs, and so the excision must be wide
Often, new lesions may occur from surgery
Prevention Relapse is extremely common
Upon removal of lesions, Clofazimine 100-200 mg/day can be used to prevent, though its results vary
Appears antifungals are not effective
Though the course of infection is slow and chronic the prognosis is poor
drugster.info rxlist.com
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Case Report 1 Part 1: 62 year old male Injured his ear when he was ~52 with a
fishhook A hard nodule developed, followed by
satellite lesions.
Initially diagnosed as lepromatous leprosy.
Microscopic findings confirmed lobomycosis
The patient refused otoplasty and was treated with itraconazole; some nodules partially regressed.
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/15/8/pdfs/1301.pdf
Case Report 1 Part 2:
Bottlenose dolphin: male.
Symptoms: missing teeth, several pink, whit and gray lesions
Although the human and dolphin cases weren’t probably related, they suggest the role of the marine environment as a likely natural habitat
for L. loboi and as a reservoir for infection.
Case Report 2 A 42-year-old white male patient, a resident of
Georgia, presented to a general surgeon.
The patient requested removal of a skin lesion on his right chest wall for cosmetic reasons.
Seven years earlier, the lesion had started as a small pustule with surrounding erythema.
At that time, the patient pierced the pustule with a needle and then expressed a tiny amount of bloody fluid.
Afterwards, the lesion developed into a small nodule that gradually increased in size w/ some mild itching only.
Case study 2 Cont.:- Two and one-half years prior to the appearance of the
pustule, the patient had traveled to Venezuela.
He walked under the Angel falls in Canaima at least 3 times-3000ft high water pressure-30 min each exposure. Swam in the bottom of the falls.
Wore diving suit but was still soaked in water.
3.5- by 2-cm reddish purple nodule with a smooth surface and distinct margins located on the right chest wall in the midaxillary line at the level of the eighth rib. It had the appearance of a keloid. After an uncomplicated excision, the excised tissue was sent for pathologic evaluation.
Case study 2 Cont.:- The excised tissue, fixed in formalin, was a skin
ellipse which measured 4.9 by 2.6 by 0.6 cm, with the lesion measuring 3.5 by 2.1 cm.
No fresh tissue was saved for bacterial or fungal cultures.
Globose to subglobose cells in a chain with distinctive tubular connectors and a cell showing multiple buds. Gomori's methenamine silver stain was used. Magnification, ×770.
Case Study 2 Cont.:- The globose and subglobose budding cells of
L. loboi resemble budding cells of P. brasiliensis in tissue.
However, the central mother cells of P. brasiliensis become large and thick-walled compared to the daughter cells, which remain smaller.
In contrast, yeast cells of L. loboi remain consistent in diameter, giving rise to branching chains of blastoconidia.
The cell wall of L. loboi contains constitutive melanin unlike P. brasiliensis, which can be detected by the use of the Fontana-Masson histologic stain.
L. loboi has never been cultured in vitro.
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References www.drfungus.org
Al-Daraji WI. Cutaneous lobomycosis: a delayed diagnosis. Am J Dermatopathol. Dec 2008;30(6):575-7.
Bermudez, Luis. "Lobomycosis in Man and Lobomycosis-like Disease in Bottlenose Dolphin, Venezuela." Emerging Infectious Diseases 15.8 (2009): 1301-303. Print.
Talhari C, Chrusciak-Talhari A, de Souza JV, Araujo JR, Talhari S. Exfoliative cytology as a rapid diagnostic tool for lobomycosis. Mycoses. Mar 2009;52(2):187-9.
Robert A. Burns, J. Stephen Roy, Cavan Woods, Arvind A. Padhye,and David W. Warnock. Report of the First Human Case of Lobomycosis in the United States. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. March 2000; 38(3):1283-85.