Abstract  

Objectives  Try to use photodynamic therapy combined with dapsone to treat rhinosporidiosis.
Methods  A 39-year-old female patient from Shaoguan, Guangdong, China, presented with a history of itching erythema, papula and nodules in the nose and left face for one year. Potassium hydroxide mounts of skin lesion revealed thick-walled sporangium containing numerous "daughter spores" in different stages. The diagnosis of rhinosporidiosis was established. Oral dapsone (100 mg/day) was administered for 12 weeks. At the same time, PDT irradiation with 20% 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) was adopted for 6 times with duration time of 4 hours, at an interval of 1 week.
Results  After treatment of oral dapsone for three months combined with six times of Photodynamic therapy, the skin lesion of the rhinosporidiosis case totally disappeared. No sign of recurrence was observed after 3 years of follow-up.

Conclusion  The use of dapsone in combination with adjuvant PDT is a safe treatment of local rhinosporidiosis and can shorten the duration of antimicrobial administration and reduce toxicity to the patient.

Photodynamic therapy combined with dapsone cured a case of rhinosporidiosis