Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis presenting as an intraventricular mass Sir, Phaeohyphomycoses are subcutaneous and systemic infections caused by dematiaceous fungi with dark walled hyphae due to the presence of melanin in the cell wall.Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis presents most commonly as a cerebral abscess and Cladophialophora bantiana accounts for the majority of the reported cases thus far. A 20-y...

The genus Fonsecaea comprises black yeast-like fungi of clinical relevance, including etiologic agents of chromoblastomycosis and cerebral phaeohyphomycosis. Presence of melanin and assimilation of monoaromatic hydrocarbons and alkylbenzenes have been proposed as virulence factors. Multicopper oxidase (MCO) is a family of enzymes including laccases, ferroxidases and ascorbate oxidases which are...

Curvularia infections in humans are relatively uncommon despite the ubiquitous presence of this soil-dwelling dematiaceous fungus in the environment. Originally thought to be solely a pathogen of plants, Curvularia has been described as a pathogen of humans and animals in the last half-century, causing respiratory tract, cutaneous, and corneal infections. Only three previous cases of central ne...

A case of cutaneous protothecosis was reported in a 78-year-old man that was in treatment for pemphigus foliaceus and phaeohyphomycosis. He presented erythematous lesions which were infiltrated into his right leg. The diagnosis was made histopathologically and confirmed by culture, and the patient was successfully treated with itraconazole.

Cladophialophora bantiana causes a rare phaeohyphomycosis, usually manifested by brain abscesses but rarely by skin or pulmonary lesions. It has not been reported as a common colonizer or as a cause of pulmonary symptoms in patients with AIDS. We present a case in which C. bantiana was repeatedly isolated from the sputum of a patient with AIDS having pulmonary infiltrates.