Diagnostic Aspects of Paracoccidioidomycosis

Abstract

The gold standard for the diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis is direct examination and culture; however, serologic, histopathologic, and molecular approaches have been recently adopted for the diagnosis of this mycosis. Few molecular methods have been applied to the diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis to detect Paracoccidioides spp. DNA from clinical specimens, and to identify the same fungi in culture. In this review, we focus on the current diagnosis of the paracoccidioidomycosis, and discuss the current molecular tools applied to the diagnosis and identification of the Paracoccidioides complex species.