Mycetoma : Curvularia geniculata

Comments:
This is a photomicrograph of a subcutaneous tissue sample from a patient with black grain eumycotic mycetoma. The causative agent was the fungal organism Curvularia geniculata. Numerous pigmented granules can be seen.

Differential Diagnosis: The differential diagnosis of mycetoma includes sporotrichosis, chromoblastomycosis, blastomycosis, and certain mycobacterial infections; botryomycosis (caused by commonly encountered bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa); and pseudomycetoma caused by dermatophytes.

Diagnosis: The diagnosis can be done with tissue biopsy supplemented by culture, morphologic assessment, biochemical studies, mass spectrometry, quantitative PCR and next-generation DNA sequencing. Image courtesy of: Dr. William Kaplan, CDC Public Health Image Library.