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We present a case of black grain mycetoma caused by Madurella mycetomatis. The diagnosis was made on the basis of conventional light microscopy and mycological studies. After 12 months of oral therapy with ketoconazole, the patient showed partial response. This is the first native Israeli case of black grain mycetoma.

A new case, the third in Israel, of subcutaneous sporotrichosis is presented. A pigmentary strain of Sporothrix schenckii was cultured from the unopened and necrotic nodules of the left hand and forearm of an 80-year-old male. Experimental inoculation of the isolated fungus into mice led to the dissemination of the organism in the liver, kidneys and lungs inoculated intraperitoneally, and the development of orchitis with abscess formation in those inoculated intratesticularly. In both groups of mice the causative agent was successfully recovered. Three months of treatment with oral potassium iodide led to the disappearance of the lesions. The source of contamination was found to be the soil adhering to fragments of wood. Two strains of a fungus, morphologically identical to the human S. schenckii, were isolated through the mouse procedure and agar-plating method from soil samples collected in the vicinity of the patient's residence. The soil isolates also proved to be pathogenic in animal inoculation. This is the first isolation of S. schenckii from soils in Israel. The possible relationships between the soil isolates and Ceratocystis stenoceras are discussed.

100 diabetic and 100 diabetes-free patients were mycologically examined for the presence of pathogenic fungi in their toe-webs and toe-nails. While there were clinical signs of presumed mycotic infection in 73 of the diabetic and in 66 of the non-diabetic subjects, the examination of the KOH-treated specimens revealed fungal elements in only 70 of the former and in 53 of the latter group. Isolation of the causative agent was possible in 57 of the diabetic patients (T. rubrum in 46%, C. albicans in 31%, T. mentagrophytes in 21% and E. floccosum in 3%) and in 40 of the control group (T. rubrum 57,5%, T. mentagrophytes 35%, C. albicans 5%, E. floccosum 2,5%). An interesting correlation was observed between the level of blood sugar and the percentage of positive fungal findings, the patients with more than 3000 mg/ml being 100% afected. C. albicans was found in a lower percentage in non-diabetic patients. The in vitro test of the sensitivity of the isolated organisms to the antidiabetic drugs, received by the patients, showed no significant anti-fungal activity.

The incidence, clinical appearance and causative agent of tinea capitis among children of Ethiopian immigrants, was studied. Out of 124 children examined, 36 had scalp lesions and 32 cases were confirmed as scalp-ringworm on direct microscopy. Culture showed the dermatophyte to be Trichophyton violaceum. The clinical presentation, resembling seborrheic dermatitis, without clinically apparent hair invasion, was atypical.

Two dermatophytic agents, Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes were used in the experimental inoculation of psoriatic lesions in 27 volunteer patients (13 males and 14 females with an age range from 17 to 72 yr). T. rubrum was inoculated in 14 patients and T. mentagrophytes (varietas granulare) in 13. For purposes of control in each patient the same agent was also inoculated on healthy skin. Results were noted once a week for a period of 1 mo. A positive response was found in 12 of the 14 patients inoculated with T. rubrum but only in 4 of the 13 inoculated with T. mentagrophytes. Healthy skin was found to have a positive response in only 5 cases, in 4 with T. rubrum, and in 1 with T. mentagrophytes. These results confirm the possibility of invasion of psoriatic lesions by dermatophytes and suggest that the coexistance of psoriasis and dermatophytic infection may be not always purely coincidental. The importance of the awareness of the presence of mycotic lesions and their possible spread with the application of steroid ointments under occlusive dressings in a psoriatic patient is stressed.