Mycobacterium chelonae infection presenting as recurrent cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules--a presentation previously diagnosed as Weber Christian disease

Dermatol Online J. 2014 Jun 15;20(6):13030/qt9k9535t1.

Abstract

Although the dermatologic community rarely uses "Weber-Christian Disease" as a diagnosis, it still appears in the internal medicine literature. Herein we present a patient with recurrent cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules who was initially treated with aggressive immunosupression for a presumptive diagnosis of Weber-Christian Disease. After more than a decade the patient was diagnosed with cutaneous Mycobacterium chelonea. This case is an excellent example of the difficulty in diagnosing mycobacterial infections and underscores the importance of having a high suspicion for infectious etiologies for unresponsive cutaneous eruptions in patients on immunosuppressive medications.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Biopsy
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Diagnostic Errors
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / diagnosis*
  • Mycobacterium Infections, Nontuberculous / microbiology
  • Mycobacterium chelonae / isolation & purification*
  • Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative / microbiology*
  • Panniculitis, Nodular Nonsuppurative / pathology*
  • Recurrence