PHIALOPHORA VERRUCOSA 



311 



of warty or cauliflower-like excrescences. Usually the hands are 

 involved; the feet are especially susceptible to infection. Other 

 parts also are known to bear the nodular ulcers. The disease has 

 a wide geographical distribution [Emmons (1940)] in the tropics 

 of both hemispheres, especially among laborers who work bare- 

 footed. There is no evidence of spread from person to person. 

 The pathogen appears to enter through injuries, such as those 

 from thorns or splinters. 



Fig. 68. A. Phialophora verrucosa, the spores borne in a phial and adhering 



in a mass at the opening of the phial. B. Hormodendroii pedrosoi, conidio- 



phores and chains of conidia that arise as buds. 



Two names, chromoblastomy cosis and dermatitis verrucosa, 

 both of which have been criticized, have been applied to the dis- 

 ease. The name chromoblastomycosis is criticized on the grounds 

 that the fungus cells within the tissues, although pigmented, do not 

 bud in yeast-like fashion but divide by septation. The roughening 

 of the skin indicated by the name dermatitis verrucosa does not 

 give an adequate clinical picture, since other tissues and related 

 conditions are included in the disease complex. 



The causal agency was first described by Medlar (1915) as 

 Phialophora verrucosa, one of the Dematiaceae, although the dis- 

 ease was first observed by Pedroso in Brazil 4 years earlier. Phialo- 

 phora, when seen in scrapings or in biopsied dermal papillae, con- 



