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Diseases » Fungal infections » Diagnosis

Diagnosis of Fungal infections

Fungal infections Diagnosis: Book Excerpts

Diagnostic Tests for Fungal infections: Online Medical Books

16 MEDICAL BOOKS ONLINE! Review excerpts from medical books online, free, without registration, for more information about diagnostis of Fungal infections.

Mycosis fungoides: Diagnosis
(Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition))

CONFIRMING DIAGNOSIS Clear diagnosis of MF depends on a history of multiple, varied, and progressively severe skin lesions associated with characteristic histologic evidence of lymphoma cell infiltration of the skin, with or without involvement of lymph nodes or visceral organs. Consequently, this diagnosis is commonly missed during the early stages until lymphoma cells are sufficiently numerous in the skin to show up in biopsy.

Other diagnostic tests help confirm MF: complete blood count and differential; a finger-stick smear for Sézary cells (abnormal circulating lymphocytes), which may be present in the erythrodermic variants of MF (Sézary syndrome); blood chemistry studies to screen for visceral dysfunction; chest X-ray; liver-spleen isotopic scanning; lymphangiography; and lymph node biopsy to assess lymph node involvement. These tests also help to stage the disease — a necessary prerequisite to treatment.

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Source: Professional Guide to Diseases (Eighth Edition), 2005

Coccidioido-mycosis: Diagnosis
(Handbook of Diseases)

Typical signs and symptoms and skin and serologic studies confirm the diagnosis. The primary form — and sometimes the disseminated form — produces an abnormal coccidioidin skin test result. In the first week of illness, complement fixation for immunoglobulin G antibodies or, in the first month, positive serum precipitins (immunoglobulins) also establish this diagnosis.

Examination or, more recently, immunodiffusion testing of sputum, pus from lesions, and a tissue biopsy may show C. immitis spores. The presence of antibodies in pleural and joint fluid and a rising serum or body fluid antibody titer indicate dissemination.

Other abnormal laboratory results include an increased white blood cell (WBC) count, increased eosinophil count, increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and a chest X-ray showing bilateral diffuse infiltrates.

In coccidioidal meningitis, examination of cerebrospinal fluid shows the WBC count increased to more than 500/µl (primarily because of mononuclear leukocytes) and increased protein and decreased glucose levels. Ventricular fluid obtained from the brain may contain complement fixation antibodies.

After the diagnosis has been reached, the results of serial skin tests, blood cultures, and serologic testing may document the effectiveness of therapy.

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Source: Handbook of Diseases, 2003