Skin nontumor

Infectious disorders

North American blastomycosis



Last author update: 1 July 2011
Last staff update: 7 March 2024

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PubMed Search: Fungi - North American blastomycosis [title]

Nat Pernick, M.D.
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Cite this page: Pernick N. North American blastomycosis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skinnontumorfungiblastomycosis.html. Accessed November 27th, 2024.
Definition / general
  • Skin lesions usually secondary to pulmonary blastomycosis when soil containing mycelia is disturbed and airborne conidia are inhaled (Clin Microbiol Rev 2010;23:367); pulmonary disease may be subclinical
  • Rarely occurs at site of penetrating injuries
  • Due to Blastomyces dermatitidis, a spherical, double-contoured, 12 micron yeast that reproduces by budding
  • Endemic areas are Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio river valleys (USA) and southern Canada
  • Risk factors are immunosuppression, collagen vascular disease, being an outdoor worker, having a coworker with blastomycosis (Can J Infect Dis Med Microbiol 2009;20:117)
  • May affect healthy patients via spore inhalation; usually men > women because they participate more in activities that disturb infected soil
Clinical features
  • Slowly enlarging verrucous plaques containing multiple small abscesses
Diagnosis
Case reports
Treatment
  • Itraconazole or long term amphotericin
Clinical images

Images hosted on other servers:

Various images

Microscopic (histologic) description
  • Marked pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia of epidermis
  • Granulomatous and neutrophilic infiltrate
  • Fungi are within giant cells
  • Blastomyces dermatitidis is a 12 micron, spherical, double-contoured yeast with broad based buds
Microscopic (histologic) images

Images hosted on other servers:

Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia, epidermal abscesses and prominent dermal infiltrate
High power shows fungal organisms


Budding yeast

Differential diagnosis
  • Alternaria species: may have similar histologic features, but differentiate based on culture (J Cutan Pathol 2011;38:923)
  • Squamous cell carcinoma: may resemble pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia of fungal infection, but has marked atypia and invasion
Additional references
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