Clinical, mycological, hstopathological and epidemiological studies were done on 26 cases of cutaneous sporotrichosis which were found during the last 5 years, from 1967 to 1971, at the out-patient clinic of department of dermatology of this hospital, and the results obtained were as follows:
1. Twenty two cases of ascending lympho-cutaneous sporotrichosis with nodules, abscesses and chancres, 2 cases of gummatous, and one of each verrucoid and impetiginous types were found in total 26 cases of the disease.
2. All the patients encountered were inhabitants in rural area, and most of them were farmers (21 cases: 81%) and children living in that area. The sources of the infection were considered as soil and plants contaminated with the causative organism.
3. Age distribution of the disease revealed highest incidence in the fourth and fifth decades (18 cases: 69%), who were active workers in Korean farm.
4. Analysis of primary focus and affected region of the body revealed highest involvement over the upper extremities (19 cases: 73%), especially right hand (9 cases: 35%) and right arm (3 cases: 12%).
5. Better culture results were obtained as following order: the best with culture material aspirated from the closed abscess with sterile needle and syringe, the second: with embeding the tissue from the lesion in the media exposing about half, and the third: with the materials. obtained from the chancre and gummatous lesions.
6. Histopathological findings revealed frequently the chronic inflammatory granulomatous tissue reaction with polymorphic cellularity and occasionally some vascularity or small multiple focal necrosis in the lesions.
7. Differential diagnosis of the disease should be considered with Lepromatous leprosy, Cysticercosis cutis, Tuberculosis of the skin and other mycobacteriosis of the skin particularly in this country.
8. In Korea the rate of the incidences of the disease was found to be the highest in Chonnam province by comparing the result obtained from this study with those of the report by others. In Chonnam province the disease were distributed almost all the counties but there were some different rates of the incidence of the disease between each counties.
9. Frequency of the disease among the total number of out-patients (12.208) was 0.2% or 1 to 500 and showed relatively high incidence of the disease in the farm workers in Chonnam province, Korea.
|