Mycetoma originating in northern California; disease caused by a fungus resembling nocardia madurae.

Abstract

Although mycetoma is a rare disease in the United States, it is important that it be considered clinically in every infection which is characterized by the development of tumefactions and sinuses. The disease progresses slowly and, at first, undergoes periods of remissions and relapses. After a period of months or even years, the classical picture of swellings and deformity will develop as the infection extends deeper into the muscles and bones. Granules which appear in the pus must receive careful mycological study in order that a therapeutic attack may be planned. So far as we have been able to determine, no case of mycetoma originating in California due to a fungus resembling Nocardia madurae has previously been reported. Report of a Case A 36-year-old white American woman suffered a severe contusion of the right great toe when a heavy piece of steel dropped on her foot