[Erysipelas-like dermatitis of the legs revealing aspergilloma of the maxillary sinus].

BACKGROUND: Skin signs is associated with Aspergillus are rare and are seen principally in immunodepressed patients. Distinction is generally made between primary skin aspergillosis, caused by direct cutaneous inoculation with the offending organism, and secondary skin aspergillosis, associated with peripheral emboli from an area of chronic pulmonary or sinus mycetoma. There have been rare reports of indirect satellite skin signs resulting from Aspergillus infection, and below we present such a case. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A 40 year-old immunocompetent man consulted for erysipeloid plaques on the lower limbs recurring over a period of seven months. X-rays and CAT scans of the sinus demonstrated asymptomatic axillary sinusitis probably caused by Aspergillus. The diagnosis was confirmed by surgery, which resulted in cure without additional antifungal treatment. The inflammatory syndrome subsided and after 15 months, there was no recurrence of lesions. DISCUSSION: The absence of relapse following treatment of the focus of aspergillosis forms a major argument in favour of a causal relationship between the erysipeloid dermatitis and the sinus mycotic infection. The hypothesis of a septic embologenic mechanism within the sinus was abandoned in favour of a mechanism similar to streptococcal nodular erythema, seen in diseases involving immune complexes, possibly caused by allergy to Aspergillus proteins. This case history demonstrates the existence of satellite skin signs of Aspergillus infection indicative of neither primary nor secondary aspergillosis.