Pulmonary Candidiasis: A Rare Diagnosis on Autopsy-A 5 Year Study in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

There is an upward trend in the incidence of various mycotic infections. Deaths from HIV-associated opportunistic mycoses and other immuno-compromised patients (malignancies like leukemia, solid cancers, organ transplants, bone marrow transplant associated nosocomial infections) are becoming one of the major cause of mortality. However, the definitive diagnosis of invasive mycotic diseases is can be made on routine histopathology biopsy of the lung and post-mortem histopathological examination of the viscera for the cause of death. We conducted the present study on 271 medicolegal cases in which viscera was received in the department of Pathology at GGS medical college, Faridkot in last 5 years (2010–2016). Of the total, 143 cases having both the lungs as the part of viscera we encountered only two cases (1.3%) of pulmonary candidiasis. This study highlights the utility and indispensability of histopathological autopsies for complete and accurate diagnosis at demonstration of rare diagnosis.