Hyperthermic treatment of sporotrichosis: experimental use of infrared and far infrared rays.

We used pocket warmers and infrared and far infrared rays to treat 14 cases of sporotrichosis, 7 in children and 7 in adults. There were 9 cases of the fixed cutaneous type and 5 of the lymphocutaneous type; 6 were located on the face and 8 on the limbs. Four cases were treated with pocket warmers, 5 with infrared rays, and 5 with far infrared rays. All lesions treated with pocket warmers were facial lesions in children; infrared and far infrared ray treatments were used in 3 children and 7 adults, 2 on facial lesions and 8 on lesions on the extremities. In treatments with infrared and far infrared rays, the amount of heat was greater than with the pocket warmers, and one 15-min treatment daily was sufficient to yield satisfactory results, but this method is difficult to use on children and on the face, and 40-min treatments two or three times a week proved unsatisfactory. Infrared and far infrared ray treatments allow the length of a single treatment to be reduced by three-quarters, in comparison with one pocket warmer treatment.