mycetoma
English
Etymology
From New Latin of the 19th century; by surface analysis, mycete + -oma; the fact that the word predates 20th century microbiology explains why the use of this name is not specific to mycotic disease: the disease was named for fungal and apparently fungal causes, and its full pathophysiology (and the current taxonomy of the various causative pathogens) was learned later.
Noun
mycetoma (countable and uncountable, plural mycetomas or mycetomata)
- (medicine) Chronic subcutaneous inflammation caused by infection with certain bacteria or fungi.
- Hyponyms: eumycetoma, actinomycetoma
- black mycetoma; melanoid mycetoma; white mycetoma; ochroid mycetoma
- 2025 April 26, Agence France-Presse, “Only global research unit on tropical skin disease becomes casualty of war”, in South China Morning Post, page A11:
- The world's only research centre on mycetoma, a neglected tropical disease common among farmers, has been destroyed in Sudan's two-year war, its director and another expert have said. Mycetoma is caused by bacteria or fungus and usually enters the body through cuts. It is a progressively destructive infectious disease of the body tissue, affecting skin, muscle and even bone. It is often characterised by swollen feet, but can also cause barnacle-like growths and club-like hands. "The centre and all its infrastructure were destroyed during the war in Sudan," Ahmed Fahal, director of the Mycetoma Research Centre (MRC), said. "We lost the entire contents of our biological banks, where there was data from more than 40 years," said Fahal, whose centre had treated thousands of patients from Sudan and other countries. "It's difficult to bear."
- (medicine, dated) Specifically, the Madura foot form of the eumycetoma form of the disease.
- 1886, Sir Frederick Treves, editor, A Manual of Surgery. In Treatises by Various Authors. In Three Volumes (Manuals for Students of Medicine)[1], volume I: General surgical affections. The blood-vessels. The nerves. The skin, Lea Brothers and Company, page 568:
- Madura foot, or mycetoma, is a chronic inflammatory disease of the foot terminating in extensive undermining of the tissues by sinuses and cavities. In certain districts blackish masses of fungoid capsules and filaments (chionyphe Carteri) are found in the discharges; and with these, or existing alone in other cases, are yellowish particles, which appear to be simply of fatty composition. It is uncertain whether the parasite is a cause or a complication of the disease. The affection is usually very chronic, and rarely repays attempts at conservative treatment.