Affiliation:
1. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
2. Mycotic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Abstract
SUMMARY
Fungal infections are becoming more frequent because of expansion of at-risk populations and the use of treatment modalities that permit longer survival of these patients. Because histopathologic examination of tissues detects fungal invasion of tissues and vessels as well as the host reaction to the fungus, it is and will remain an important tool to define the diagnostic significance of positive culture isolates or results from PCR testing. However, there are very few instances where the morphological characteristics of fungi are specific. Therefore, histopathologic diagnosis should be primarily descriptive of the fungus and should include the presence or absence of tissue invasion and the host reaction to the infection. The pathology report should also include a comment stating the most frequent fungi associated with that morphology as well as other possible fungi and parasites that should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Alternate techniques have been used to determine the specific agent present in the histopathologic specimen, including immunohistochemistry,
in situ
hybridization, and PCR. In addition, techniques such as laser microdissection will be useful to detect the now more frequently recognized dual fungal infections and the local environment in which this phenomenon occurs.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical),Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,General Immunology and Microbiology,Epidemiology
Cited by
732 articles.
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