Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat with front leg swelling diagnosed with rare Mycoleptodiscus
By Maboni, Grazieli et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2019·University of Georgia, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Laboratory diagnostics, phylogenetic analysis and clinical outcome of a subcutaneous Mycoleptodiscus indicus infection in an immunocompetent cat.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old cat from Georgia had swelling on its left front leg but wasn't limping. After testing, the vet found a rare fungal infection caused by Mycoleptodiscus indicus. The cat was treated with antifungal medication and made a full recovery without any complications. This case highlights that even healthy cats can get unusual infections from fungi found in the environment.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Mycoleptodiscus indicus is a dematiaceous hyphomycete fungus found on plant leaves. It has been rarely reported as a cause of human or animal disease, possibly because it is difficult to culture and identify from clinical specimens. Infections are presumably acquired by traumatic implantation. CASE PRESENTATION: An 8-year-old non-immunosuppressed cat from Georgia, USA, presented with a left front leg swelling without lameness. Cytology from a fine needle aspirate revealed pyogranulomatous inflammation with both cytoplasmic and extracellular fungal elements. There were septate hyphae with irregularly sized segments, non-staining uneven walls, and rounded yeast-like forms from which longer hyphae arose in a hub-and-spoke pattern. A mold was isolated on agar from a fine needle aspirate collected 1 week later and identified as M. indicus by morphology, DNA sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The cat recovered completely and uneventfully with antifungal treatment. CONCLUSIONS: We report a previously undescribed presentation of M. indicus causing a subcutaneous infection in a cat with successful antifungal treatment. In this study we highlight the potential of M. indicus to infect immunocompetent animals, and the veterinary medical community should be aware of its unusual but characteristic clinical, microbiological and cytologic presentation.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31639008/