The usefulness of blood culture in diagnosing HIV-related systemic mycoses: evaluation of a manual lysis centrifugation method

Author： BIANCHI M. ROBLES A. M. VITALE R. HELOU S. ARECHAVALA A. NEGRONI R.

Publisher： Informa Healthcare

ISSN： 1460-2709

Source： Medical Mycology, Vol.38, Iss.1, 2000-02, pp. : 77-80

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Abstract

The results of 5034 blood cultures, implementing a lysis-centrifugation method with saponin, are summarized in this paper. Three hundred and twenty two blood samples (6·3%) obtained from a pool of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients yielded fungi. Cryptococcus neoformans was isolated in 199 samples (3·95%), Histoplasma capsulatum in 95 (1·89%). Candida parapsilosis in 12 (0·23%), C. albicans in 7 (0·13%), C. tropicalis in 2, C. krusei in 1, C. guillermondii in 1, and Prototheca wickerhamii in 4 (0·07%). Blood cultures were positive for C. neoformans in 76·23% of patients having a diagnosis of cryptococcosis and in 89·65% of those who had histoplasmosis. The blood culture was the first means of confirming the diagnosis in 23·8% of the patients with cryptococcosis and in 54% with histoplasmosis. In the four patients in whom P. wickerhamii was isolated, a diagnosis of disseminated protothecosis was not achieved by other findings. Catheter infections were responsible for the majority of recovered Candida spp.