Medical information and knowledge of the diseases in humans caused by atypical or anonymous acid-fast bacilli have been rapidly accumulating during the past twenty years. The purpose of this report is to present an unusual cutaneous and subcutaneous nodular sporotrichoid form of swimming-pool granuloma caused by Mycobacterium marinum (balnei). The source of the infection in this case was not from a contaminated swimming pool, and the case report illustrates the difficulty encountered in establishing the correct and specific etiological organism.
Strongly emphasized is the important fact that the pathological and microbiological behavior of M marinum is strictly dependent for optimum growth on a narrow temperature range of about 30 to 33 C. Also stressed is the necessity for the clinician to employ detailed histopathological, bacteriological, and mycological studies of tissues removed from cutaneous granulomas, ulcers, and abscesses in order to establish correct etiological diagnoses and thus be able to institute specific and effective therapy.