RESUMO
Resumen Trichophyton benhamiae es un dermatofito zoofílico. Puede causar tinea corporis, tinea faciei y tinea capitis. Se caracteriza por producir lesiones inflamatorias, sobre todo en niños. El objetivo de esta publicación es describir 7 casos clínicos de pacientes pediátricos atendidos entre julio del 2019 y enero del 2020 en nuestra institución. A los pacientes se les solicitó estudio micológico convencional, con posterior confirmación con MALDI-TOF MS y secuencia-ción del ADN ribosomal. Se aisló e identificó T. benhamiae como agente etiológico; el nexo epidemiológico fue el contacto con cobayos. Estas son las primeras descripciones de infecciones causadas por T. benhamiae en Argentina. Al realizar estudios micológicos convencionales, este agente puede confundirse con otros dermatofitos, por lo tanto, se requieren herramientas como MALDI-TOF MS o la secuenciación para llegar a un diagnóstico definitivo. Es importante contar con datos epidemiológicos, como el contacto con mascotas no tradicionales, para una presunción diagnóstica adecuada.
Trichophyton benhamiae is a zoonotic dermatophyte that can cause tinea corporis, tinea faciei and tinea capitis, producing inflammatory lesions, especially in children. In this publication, we describe 7clinical cases of pediatric patients that occurred in our institution between July 2019 and January 2020. All patients underwent a conventional mycological study. The identification of fungi isolates was confirmed by MALDI-TOF MS and sequencing of the ribosomal DNA. T. benhamiae was identified as the etiological agent, whose epidemiological link in all cases was the contact with Guinea pigs. This is the first description of infections caused by T. benhamiae in Argentina. This dermatophyte can be misidentified as other more frequent dermatophytes when performing conventional studies. Molecular technology should be used to reach a definitive diagnosis. It is important to have epidemiological data from patients such as contact with non-traditional pets, especially Guinea pigs, for an adequate presumptive diagnosis of this dermatophytosis.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Comedones are usually found in acne and involve the seborrheic areas of the skin. Disseminated comedones can be found in other skin disorders. Flexural comedones are characterized by double orifices connected by a thin layer of epidermis that reveals the comedo content below it. To the best of our knowledge, flexural comedones have not been previously described as an entity. Our objective was to characterize this disorder. OBSERVATIONS: A cross-sectional descriptive study was performed from April 2004 to July 2006. We included 40 pediatric and adolescent patients with flexural comedones; 21 were female (52%), and 19 were male (48%) (mean age, 6.2 years). In 29 cases the lesions were single (72%) and in 32 cases (80%) unilateral. The lesions were located in the axilla in 88% of the patients. We performed biopsies of skin samples in 6 cases. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, flexural comedones have not been previously described as an entity, and we felt that they deserved attention owing to the relative frequency of cases in our clinical practice. Because of its clinical appearance, flexural localization, and age distribution, we named this disorder childhood flexural comedones. Further investigation and follow-up of a larger number of patients is needed.
