For three years, a 56-year-old woman carried a chronic, nonhealing, draining abscess on her right cheek. Her doctors suspected cervicofacial actinomycosis, a stubborn bacterial infection of the face and neck.
A punch biopsy sent for culture came back negative for bacteria, fungi, and atypical mycobacteria. Because of the lesion's size and depth, surgeons removed it entirely and sent it for pathology. The answer had nothing to do with infection.
