The spectrum of fungal infections in a tertiary care center: A study from South of India

4^th International Conference on Cytopathology & Histopathology

August 29-30, 2018 | Boston, USA

Sandhya Sundaram, Anupma Jyothi Kindoo, Mohanapriya and Lawrence D Cruz

Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Hospital, India

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Cytol Histol

Abstract :

Statement of the Problem: Fungi have been recognized as the causative agents of human disease earlier than bacteria. Michele (1729) described aspergillosis and named it because of its resemblance to �??rougher head.�?� Since then more than 400 species of the fungi have been described. Fungi usually thrive in hot and humid climate and South India has a warm and moist climate throughout the year. Therefore a variety of fungal infection is reported with varying clinical features. Further with modern with the indiscriminate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics, cancer chemotherapeutic agents; use of immunosuppressive drugs, irradiation, and increased radiological screening procedures, hyperalimentation, organ transplantations, and acquired immunodeficiency have led to increasing in the incidence of fungal infection has increased. Therefore it is important to recognize different morphological features of fungus since early diagnosis can prevent complication. Histopathologic examination remains one of the major diagnostic tools in mycology because it permits rapid identification of fungal infections. Although culture is considered as gold standard for etiologic diagnosis of fungal infection, the tissue may sometimes not be available and it is a slow process. We analyzed two-year data of fungal infection at our tertiary care center and correlated where available with microbiological reports. A total of 64 cases of fungal infections were reported. The patient ages ranged from 17 to 77. Males were more commonly affected when compared to females. The commonest site of infection was nasal cavity followed by lung and extremities. The commonest type of fungus was Aspergillus followed by Zygomycetes. The spectrum of various fungal infections and their clinical correlation will be discussed.

Biography :

Sandhya Sundaram is a senior pathologist with 21 years of experience in practice of Pathology. She completed her MD & DNB in pathology and Postdoctoral certificate course in Laboratory Medicine. She has more than 50 publications in reputed journals and several national research grants. Her basic area of interest is oncopathology with a keen interest in Breast pathology and Genitourinary and gastric Pathology. She is keenly interested in Morphological, Molecular Pathology and Molecular genetics of solid tumours and infections associated with malignancies and their molecular characterization. She has also worked in fungal infection in collaboration with Microbiology Department.

E-mail: sandsrid@gmail.com