Phialemonium obovatum infection in a burned child.

Phialemonium obovatum is reported for the first time as an opportunistic fungal pathogen of man. The fungus was recovered from biopsy specimens consisting of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue obtained from thermal burn wounds antemortem and from spleen tissue and three burn sites postmortem. The hyaline hypae of P. obovatum were seen invading viable tissue and blood vessels. The taxonomy of the genus Phialemonium and the criteria for determining fungal burn wound invasion are discussed.