Onychomycosis due to opportunistic molds

Background: onychomycosis are caused by dermatophytes and candida,but rarely by non- dermatophyte molds. these opportunistic agents are fi lamentous fungi found as soil and plant pathogens. objectives: to determine the frequency of opportunistic molds in onychomycosis. methods: a retrospective analysis of 4,220 cases with onychomycosis,diagnosed in a 39-month period at the institute of dermatology and skin surgery “prof. dr. fernando a. cordero c.” in guatemala city,and confi rmed with a positive koh test and culture. results: 32 cases (0.76%) of onychomycosis caused by opportunistic molds were confi rmed. the most affected age group ranged from 41 to 65 years (15 patients,46.9%) and females were more commonly affected (21 cases,65.6%) than males. lateral and distal subungual onychomycosis (osd-l) was detected in 20 cases (62.5%). the microscopic examination with koh showed fi laments in 19 cases (59.4%),dermatophytoma in 9 cases (28.1%),spores in 2 cases (6.25%),and fi laments and spores in 2 cases (6.25%). etiologic agents: aspergillus sp.,11 cases (34.4%); scopulariopsis brevicaulis,8 cases (25.0%); cladosporium sp.,3 cases (9.4%); acremonium sp.,2 cases (6.25%); paecilomyces sp.,2 cases (6.25%); tritirachium oryzae,2 cases (6.25%); fusarium sp.,phialophora sp.,rhizopus sp. and alternaria alternate,1 case (3.1%) each. conclusions: we found onychomycosis by opportunistic molds in 0.76% of the cases and dlso was present in 62.5%. the most frequent isolated etiological agents were: aspergillus sp. and scopulariopsis brevicaulis. © 2015 by anais brasileiros de dermatologia.