Mycetoma formation in Trichophyton rubrum infection

SUMMARY An adult male patient with a chronic Trichophyton rubrum infection of the feet, toe nails and groin, for 15 years, developed on the dorsum of the right foot a tumour with draining sinuses. Histological examination of tissue from the growth revealed granulomatous inflammation with abscesses containing granules characteristic of mycetoma. T. rubrum was cultured from skin scrapings and toe nails. The concurrent complete clearing of the superficial lesions and the mycetoma during treatment with griseofulvin, as well as the disappearance of complement fixing antibodies against T. rubrum antigen, indicate that this hitherto unreported complication of a dermatophyte infection may be related and may not be coincidental to the infection.