Eumycetoma

Eumycetoma – General Information

Eumycetoma is a well known chronic medical condition. This subcutaneous and / or cutaneous infection is known to be triggered by a variety of fungi. It is known that about 40% of all mycetomal infections are in fact Eumycetomas. What is special about this medical issue is that is determines the progressive destruction or nearby organs (anatomic structures) and that of the soft tissue. Sporadic cases of patients who presented with medical condition were encountered in North America. Luckily, in the US, only 30 cases of patients with this medical issue have been reported between 1896 and 1964. Most of these cases were from the south-west of the US. However, this medical condition has become quite common in other countries, such as Mexico. This medical condition is most common in the subtropical and tropical areas (especially between 15° S and 30° N latitude, as in between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer). This medical condition is endemic in parts of Africa (such as Senegal, Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, Zaire, Chad, and so on), India, Yemen, Pakistan, Mexico, Central America, Columbia, South America (including Columbia, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, and so on). As a patient who is suffering from Eumycetoma will experience a steady development of the disorder (deformity of the body area that is infected and the gradual enlargement of the infection site), this medical condition is generally associated with high morbidity. Studies have shown that men are more prone to develop this medical disorder than women are (the ratio is 4:1). Patients who develop this medical disorder are generally between 10 and 40 years of age.

Eumycetoma – Symptoms

Even if a lot of patients who develop Eumycetoma do not complain of pain, in some cases, it is abnormal pain that makes the patient seek professional medical care. Another symptom that ought to prompt you to establish an emergency medical check-up with your personal health care provider is gradual enlargement of a body part.
It is known that patients to whom any of the following statements apply are more predisposed to develop this medical condition:

• Walking barefoot
• History of trauma
• Poor personal hygiene
• Agricultural work
• Poor nutrition
• Multiple infections
• Wounds

Eumycetoma – Treatment

Although various studies have been made regarding this medical condition (Eumycetoma) and the best way to keep this medical condition under control and, eventually, to cure it, the proper therapy for this disorder is still problematic. Throughout history, patients who were suffering from this medical procedure have had to undergo surgery or an intense medication prophylaxis, or even both. It is though that the best therapy option there is combines medication therapy with surgical procedure, in order to get the best results. The most popular medical therapy involves antifungal agents. However, this type of treatment is known to have variable results. This is due to certain factors. For example, it is known that the organisms’ in vitro sensitivity to medication can differ from the response that the same medicine gets from the fungi in vivo. One of the most popular antifungal agents on the market (Amphotericin B) is not recommended in the treatment of Eumycetoma, as it has almost no effect on the fungi that causes the infection. However, some antifungal agents have proved to be quite efficient in the therapy of this medical condition. They include dapsone and griseofulvin. However, the medicine on which patients with Eumycetoma can rely most remains imidazole that ought to be accompanied by a surgical procedure in order to get the best results. After the end of the therapy, the patient ought to be kept under strict medical supervision (hospitalization for a certain period of time) in order to monitor his or her general health condition (and check for disorder recurrence symptoms). After this, the patient may go home. However, it is recommended that he or she ought to keep in touch with his or her personal health care provider in order to undergo regular medical checkups for the same reason that we have stated above.

It is known that a therapy with Ketoconazole is quite effective in the case of patients with Eumycetoma that has been caused by Mycetomatis. From an average of 13 patients who were treated with this medicine (they were given an average dose of 200-400 mg of medicine per day) 4 have shown a significant improvement and 5 have completely cured. Their therapy has lasted 12.9 months. However, the average treatment for patients with Eumycetoma is known to range from 3 to 36 months. However, all patients who want to start a therapy with this medication (Ketoconazole) ought to be aware of the fact that higher doses of this drug do not provide better results. In the past, the most popular surgical treatment for this medical condition involved radical surgery procedures (such as amputation of the limb that was infected). If a patient undergoes a medical procedure without accompanying it with proper medication therapy, he or she will probably develop this medical disorder again, as the recurrence rates for such cases are about 80%. It is known that surgical resection is a viable option in the case of patients in the early stages of Eumycetoma (when the disorder has only caused small lesions, without affecting the patient’s bone).