Casuística de cromomicosis en el estado Bolívar (1987-2010) y evaluación de la sensibilidad in vitro de dos aislados de Fonsecaea pedrosoi

the purpose of this study was to determine chromomycosis prevalence during a 23-year period at two reference hospitals of bolivar state. a retrospective study was carried out through the revision of clinical case histories of patients with a chromomycosis diagnosis, registering fourteen cases of this disease. of these cases, 78.6% corresponded to males, most of them agricultural workers from rural areas; 28.6% presented verrucous lesions. the period of evaluation of the lesions varied between 5 months and 35 years. fonsecae pedrosoi was the etiologic agent isolated in three (21.4%) of the four patients whose samples were cultured. sensitivity was evaluated in vitro in only two cases through e-test？, showing resistance to systemic antifungals agents: amphotericine-b, 5-fluorocytosine, ketoconazole, fluconazole and itraconazole. two patients were treated with itraconazol, one of them improved and the other presented co-morbility with eumycotic mycetoma and died. chromomycosis prevalence during the period studied was low (0.6 cases/year); nevertheless, this infection constitutes a health problem for risk populations, mainly agricultural and mining workers at bolivar state who present verrucous lesions with a chronic evolution