Prototheca species are ubiquitous achlorophyllic algae that can, in rare instances, manifest as cutaneous infection in humans at sites of traumatic inoculation into the skin.
Objectives:
We report a 77-year-old man who developed cutaneous protothecosis at the site of an iatrogenic tape-stripping type injury. The diagnosis was confirmed by histologic examination and tissue culture. The patient responded completely to a 17-week course of oral fluconazole.
Conclusion:
Cutaneous protothecosis can present clinically as nonspecific indolent inflammatory plaques that require skin biopsy for definitive diagnosis.
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