Case Report of Nasal Rhinosporidiosis in South Africa

Abstract

We describe a classic case of nasal rhinosporidiosis in a woman who resided in Johannesburg, South Africa, but originated from a rural area in Eastern Cape Province. We confirmed histologic diagnosis using PCR testing and compared details with those from records on 17 other cases from South Africa.

Keywords: PCR; Rhinosporidium; South Africa; aquatic protistan parasites; eukaryotic pathogens; fungi; histology; nasal polyps; rhinosporidiosis; scanning electron microscopy.

Figure 1

Results of testing in a 24-year-old Black woman with rhinosporidiosis, South Africa. Squamous mucosa with numerous thick-walled sporangia in the subepithelial region amid subacute inflammation. Hematoxylin and eosin stained section; original magnification ×100. Upper right inset shows polypoid solid fragments of tissue; lower left inset depicts sporangia enclosing endospores maturing centripetally (white arrow). Insets: original magnification ×200.

Figure 2

Macromorphology of excised recurrent nasal polyp from a 24-year-old Black woman with rhinosporidiosis, South Africa. A) Intraoperative endoscopic image of mass in right nasal cavity. B) Polypoid, oval mass measuring 15 mm. C) Stalk that attached the mass to the nasal septum. D) Portion of the pedunculated polyp (arrowhead) dotted with developing and mature sporangia (arrows). Scale bar = 1 mm. E) Surface of tissue with multiple sporangia in various stages of maturity, with the chitinous wall thickening during maturation (arrow). Scale bar = 150 μm.