title: An unusual localization of mucormycosis diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology: a case report.
abstract: Mucormycosis is an uncommon fungal infection, occurring mainly in patients with acidosis, chronic illnesses and malignancies. The most frequent site of involvement in patients of hematological malignancies is the respiratory tract. Isolated subcutaneous localization of mucormycosis in such patients is extremely rare. We report a case of a young patient of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on chemotherapy who presented with a subcutaneous swelling on the anterior aspect of right thigh. Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) smears from the swelling revealed numerous characteristic broad, irregularly contoured and pleomorphic hyphae of mucormycosis. This fungus seldom grows in culture and confirmation of the diagnosis depends on cytological or histological examination of infected tissues. Our case report documents a rare site of isolated mucormycosis infection and emphasizes the role of FNAC as a simple, rapid, accurate, and useful method of diagnosing fungal infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The Gujarat Cancer and Research Institute, M.P. Shah Cancer Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat. shreyans-patel41@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Trupti
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Rimpi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bansal
authors.forename: Priti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Chetna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bhullar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D003240:Connective Tissue Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D009091:Mucormycosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D040521:Subcutaneous Tissue / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D013848:Thigh / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology