Medical Mycology Journal
Online ISSN : 2186-165X
Print ISSN : 2185-6486
ISSN-L : 2185-6486
Original Articles
A Case of Tinea Pedis in a Child Caused by Trichophyton interdigitale with Two Different Colony Phenotypes on Primary Culture
Sumiko IshizakiSoko WatanabeMizuki SawadaJunya NinomiyaTomoko OtaniMasaru TanakaTakashi HaradaKatsuhiko Kamei
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2019 Volume 60 Issue 4 Pages 91-94

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Abstract

An otherwise healthy 3-year-old girl presented with a several-month history of scaly lesions on her palms and soles. The lesions on the palms and right sole had been successfully treated with a steroid for pompholyx by a nearby dermatology clinic, but the lesion on the left sole persisted and spread to the back of the foot. On the initial visit, the patient exhibited an itchy and scaly erythematous left foot lesion. Direct microscopic examination of the scales revealed a considerable amount of fungal elements. A diagnosis of tinea pedis was made, and antifungal treatment with a neticonazole ointment was initiated. Complete cure was achieved after 4 weeks of treatment. The primary mycological cultures from the scales simultaneously revealed two types of colonies: a white powdery flat colony and a white downy elevated colony with a reddish-yellow bottom. Although the powdery colony was identified as Trichophyton mentagrophytes complex on slide culture, the downy colonies could not be identified based on cultural and morphological characteristics. The nucleotide sequences of the internal transcribed spacer region from both colonies showed an exact match, which eventually led to their identification as Trichophyton interdigitale. Further genotyping at three points in the non-transcribed spacer region in both colonies also showed the same NTS type of D2II. It is very rare for two morphologically different colonies to be isolated from the primary culture under the same conditions in tinea cases. Genetic tests are of extreme value to identify the strain in such cases.

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© 2019 The Japanese Society for Medical Mycology
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