Microsporum praecox: Molecular Identification of a New Case and Review of the Literature

We report a rare case of dermatophytosis due to Microsporum praecox in a 28-year-old female horse rider. The skin lesion was located on the right external malleolus. Microscopic examination of skin scrapings revealed a dermatophyte which was also isolated in culture. The identification of M. praecox was confirmed by molecular biology (sequence analysis of PCR products amplified from internal transcribed spacer regions with universal primers). Combined antifungal therapy with oral terbinafine and topical cyclopiroxolamide resulted in complete remission of the fungal lesion within 1 month. Since 1944, only 29 cases of human M. praecox infection have been reported in the literature. The clinical features and treatment of these cases are reviewed. The prevalence of M. praecox infection is probably underestimated, and systematic molecular identification could improve our understanding of the epidemiology of this fungal dermatosis.