Cutaneous infection due to Cladophialophora bantiana in a patient receiving immunosuppressive therapy.
Cladophialophora bantiana (Xylohypha bantiana, Cladosporium trichoides), a dematiaceous fungus, causes mainly infections of the central nervous system. Systemic antifungal therapy is apparently unsuccessful. Extracerebral involvement is uncommon and only few cases have been reported. We describe a 63-year-old patient, a kidney transplant recipient on prolonged prednisone and cyclosporin, who developed a large single lesion on the thigh from which Cladophialophora bantiana was cultured. A 3-month course of itraconazole 200 mg daily resulted in complete healing of the lesion. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report on cutaneous infection with Cladophialophora bantiana in an organ transplant recipient and the first in whom treatment with itraconazole led to resolution.