ABSTRACT
Tracheoesophageal vocal prostheses (TVP) in laryngectomized patients commonly deteriorate due to overgrowth by yeasts, particularly Candida species. We describe the first case of colonization of such devices by a member of the Fusarium solani species complex in a patient with a history of glottal carcinoma. Three isolates, from three prostheses, were found morphologically consistent with the traditional picture of F. solani. Ribosomal sequence analysis showed that the isolates belonged to a distinct, as yet apparently unnamed phylogenetic species within the F. solani species complex. This species, one of two distinct genetic types (genotype 2) traditionally considered part of the plant-pathogenic subtaxon Fusarium solani f. sp. radicicola, has not previously been identified as an agent of human or animal disease, although it is closely related to a known etiologic agent of mycetoma, an Acremonium-like species recently renamed Fusarium falciforme. Sequence and multisatellite M13 polymorphism analysis revealed no distinctions among the case isolates. Production of cyclosporine was detected for all three case isolates.
