Long-Term Carriage of Medicopsis romeroi, an Agent of Black-Grain Mycetoma, Presenting as Phaeohyphomycosis in a Renal Transplant Patient

Abstract

Medicopsis species are rare fungal pathogens that frequently resist common antifungal therapies and are difficult to identify morphologically as conidia are produced in pycnidia, a key feature of coelomycetes. Immunocompromised patients are at risk of these infections, even after remote exposure, and typically present with phaeohyphomycoses without dissemination. We present the case of a renal transplant recipient 6.5 years post-transplant who developed a slowly progressive soft tissue infection mimicking a synovial cyst. A cultured isolate was identified as Medicopsis romeroi by sequencing of multiple ribosomal loci. The patient responded well to debridement and posaconazole therapy. Solid-organ transplant patients are at risk of opportunistic fungal infection long after transplant, and molecular methods are often required for definitive identification.

Keywords: Coelomycete; Dematiaceous; Medicopsis; Mycetoma; Phaeohyphomycosis; Solid-organ transplant.