Abstract
BackgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) infection caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) is associated with a wide range of disease patterns, ranging from mild to life‐threatening pneumonia. COVID‐19 can be associated with a suppressed immune response and/or hyperinflammatory state due to a cytokine storm. Reduced immunity, combined with steroid usage to prevent a cytokine storm along with various pre‐existing comorbidities can prove to be fertile ground for various secondary bacterial and fungal infection, including mucormycosis. Diagnosis of Mucor is a challenging task given the high negativity rate of various detection methods. While histopathology is considered the gold standard, the acquisition of necessary tissue biopsy specimens requires invasive procedures and is time consuming.MethodIn this study five different methods of Mucor detection, namely conventional cytopathology, liquid‐based cytology (LBC, BD SurePath™), potassium hydroxide (KOH) preparation, culture, and histopathology were analysed. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated for all five methods.ResultsLBC had values for sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of 72.4%, 100%, 100%, and 38.4%, respectively, closely matching histopathology in sensitivity (75.9%). The sensitivity of culture, conventional cytopathology, and KOH were very low compared to histopathology and LBC.ConclusionThis study showed that LBC, can be a rapid and effective alternative to histopathology in Mucor diagnosis.
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
More From: Cytopathology : official journal of the British Society for Clinical Cytology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.