Mycetoma: A report of 8 cases at tertiary care hospital in Central India with review of literature

BACKGROUND: Mycetoma is introduced as a rare neglected disease in tropical areas. It is a chronic, localized, slowly progressive infectious granulomatous disease of soft tissue. It may be caused by true fungi such as eumycetoma or filamentous bacteria such as actinomycetoma. In India, there is variation in the species causing mycetoma according to geographical location. The purpose of this study was to review all currently available information to identify knowledge gaps and/or research priorities. METHODS: The study was conducted retrospectively in the Department of Histopathology for biopsy-confirmed cases of mycetoma. Eight histopathologically confirmed cases were found in the two-year study period from 2018 to 2019, and a clinicopathological analysis of de-identified patient data was done. RESULTS: Five cases were reported as mycotic mycetoma, and the rest were reported as actinomycosis. All patients were men, and the mean age of presentation was 41.37 years old. The foot, ankle, head, and neck were the sites that were the most infected regions. CONCLUSION: Mycetoma is a rare disease but should be considered a differential diagnosis of any foot and ankle lump in a patient from the subtropics. An accurate and timely histopathological diagnosis is essential in mycetoma for its treatment and prognosis, as when left untreated, the disease progresses and leads to increased morbidity. Appropriate preventive and control measures can be utilized by health workers/community leaders to educate people at risk to reduce their exposure risk and report the cases as early as possible.