Skin, Subcutaneous Tissue, and Allograft Infection with Mycobacterium fortuitum in a Renal Transplant Recipient

Different types of skin disorders are prevalent among kidney transplant recipients. The development of nodular skin lesions in these patients would usually raise a suspicion of Kaposis sarcoma. We report a patient, who presented with nodular skin lesions one year post transplant, but the biopsy revealed a rare diagnosis - Mycobacterium fortuitum (M. fortuitum) infection of the skin, subcutaneous, and renal allograft. He was treated successfully with an initial two-week course of intravenous cefoxitin, followed by a six-month course of ciprofloxacin, clarithromycin, and co-trimoxazole. There are a few reported cases of M. fortuitum infection in renal transplant recipients in the literature - notably urinary tract infection, allograft infection, and psoas abscess, but to the best of our knowledge this is the first case demonstrating extensive infection involving the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and renal allograft. Physicians vested with the care of renal transplant patients should be aware of this rare infection in these patients.