Background: Prototheca species are ubiquitous achlorophyllic algae that can, in rare instances, manifest as cutaneous infection in humans at sites of traumatic inoculation into the skin.
Objectives: We report a 77-year-old man who developed cutaneous protothecosis at the site of an iatrogenic tape-stripping type injury. The diagnosis was confirmed by histologic examination and tissue culture. The patient responded completely to a 17-week course of oral fluconazole.
Conclusion: Cutaneous protothecosis can present clinically as nonspecific indolent inflammatory plaques that require skin biopsy for definitive diagnosis.