Abstract
Cladophialophora boppii is a black yeast-like fungus that up to now has been only rarely described as a cause of human infection and whose role as a pathogen was not established despite its repeated isolation and genetic identification in these reports. Here we report the first case of a verified toenail infection caused by this fungus in a woman without any systemic disease or evidence of immunodeficiency. Identical dark molds were isolated from the same toenail at three points of time. Species identification was performed by scrutinizing the isolates morphologic, physiologic and genetic characteristics which resulted in their identification as Cladophialophora boppii. Oral treatment with terbinafin plus topical ciclopiroxolamine was effective.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Vera Beck-Jendroscheck and Karin Voss for their skilful technical assistance.
Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
This paper was first published online on Early Online on 14 October 2010.