Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha blockade has been well proved to significantly improve the disease course of rheumatoid arthritis. However, since TNF-alpha plays an important role in the immune system against external infectious organisms, it was reported that TNF-alpha blockade could increase the frequency of serious opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. Fungal bursitis is a rare infectious disease following sever infections, malignancies and immune deficiencies. Moreover, there was no report on fungal bursitis occurring after administration of TNF-alpha blockade in Korea to date. Recently we experienced a 58-year-od female patient with rheumatoid arthritis who presented soft buttock mass after treatment with etanercept and was finally diagnosed as fungal bursitis by Candida parapsilosis.

Keywords: Etanercept, Candida parapsilosis, Bursitis, Rheumatoid arthritis