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Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma

In the world of medical diagnoses, a particularly intriguing scenario unfolds, wherein the cutaneous manifestation of a systemic fungal infection disguises itself as a Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), a skin cancer. Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection caused by inhaling spores of the fungus...

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Autores principales: Nagarajappa, Prajwala, Mylavarapu, Maneeth, Gurumurthy, Srivathsava, Tschen, Jaime A
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10494871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37701001
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.43374
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author Nagarajappa, Prajwala
Mylavarapu, Maneeth
Gurumurthy, Srivathsava
Tschen, Jaime A
author_facet Nagarajappa, Prajwala
Mylavarapu, Maneeth
Gurumurthy, Srivathsava
Tschen, Jaime A
author_sort Nagarajappa, Prajwala
collection PubMed
description In the world of medical diagnoses, a particularly intriguing scenario unfolds, wherein the cutaneous manifestation of a systemic fungal infection disguises itself as a Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), a skin cancer. Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection caused by inhaling spores of the fungus Coccidioides immitis. It is primarily a pneumonic illness which, in a few cases, has the potential to cause severe systemic disease. In this article, we report a case of a 60-year-old female with a known history of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of left breast status post lumpectomy and adjunct chemotherapy presented with complaints of cough, fever, and easy fatigability that seemed to be attributable to her immunocompromised state. She also had a pseudo-vesicular plaque on her left upper arm for two years. As we delve into the case, it becomes clear that Coccidioidomycosis and other opportunistic infections are commonplace among immunocompromised patients. Prior awareness of this condition and a cautious yet open-minded approach prevented gross misdiagnosis in our case. Physicians should be vigilant in diagnosing Coccidioidomycosis, especially in immunocompromised patients presenting with mild constitutional symptoms in endemic regions. Early detection and management are crucial to prevent severe complications and increase patient survival rates.
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spelling pubmed-104948712023-09-12 Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma Nagarajappa, Prajwala Mylavarapu, Maneeth Gurumurthy, Srivathsava Tschen, Jaime A Cureus Dermatology In the world of medical diagnoses, a particularly intriguing scenario unfolds, wherein the cutaneous manifestation of a systemic fungal infection disguises itself as a Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), a skin cancer. Coccidioidomycosis is an endemic fungal infection caused by inhaling spores of the fungus Coccidioides immitis. It is primarily a pneumonic illness which, in a few cases, has the potential to cause severe systemic disease. In this article, we report a case of a 60-year-old female with a known history of infiltrating ductal carcinoma of left breast status post lumpectomy and adjunct chemotherapy presented with complaints of cough, fever, and easy fatigability that seemed to be attributable to her immunocompromised state. She also had a pseudo-vesicular plaque on her left upper arm for two years. As we delve into the case, it becomes clear that Coccidioidomycosis and other opportunistic infections are commonplace among immunocompromised patients. Prior awareness of this condition and a cautious yet open-minded approach prevented gross misdiagnosis in our case. Physicians should be vigilant in diagnosing Coccidioidomycosis, especially in immunocompromised patients presenting with mild constitutional symptoms in endemic regions. Early detection and management are crucial to prevent severe complications and increase patient survival rates. Cureus 2023-08-12 /pmc/articles/PMC10494871/ /pubmed/37701001 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.43374 Text en Copyright © 2023, Nagarajappa et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Dermatology
Nagarajappa, Prajwala
Mylavarapu, Maneeth
Gurumurthy, Srivathsava
Tschen, Jaime A
Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title_full Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title_fullStr Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title_full_unstemmed Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title_short Cutaneous Coccidioidomycosis and Basal Cell Carcinoma: Case Report on a Diagnostic Dilemma
title_sort cutaneous coccidioidomycosis and basal cell carcinoma: case report on a diagnostic dilemma
topic Dermatology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10494871/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37701001
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.43374
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