Pathology of fungal infections of the central nervous system: 17 years' experience from Southern India.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the pathology of central nervous system (CNS) fungal infections with particular reference to India.


RESULTS
This was a retrospective study from 1988 to 2004 constituting 130 cases. The diagnosis was based on morphology of biopsy/autopsy material. These included aspergillosis (n=73), zygomycosis (n=40), cryptococcosis (n=2), rhodotorulosis (n=1), candidiasis (n=5), maduramycosis (n=1), pheohyphomycosis (n=3) and mixed infections (n=5). Predisposing risk factors were present in 49 (38%) patients only. The majority of the patients were immunocompetent. The commonest risk factor was diabetes mellitus, the commonest route of infection was from a contiguous site and the commonest pathology was granuloma. Culture positivity was seen in only 31%.


CONCLUSIONS
Environmental factors in tropical countries such as India play a significant role in the pathogenesis of CNS fungal infections.
Sundaram
C
C
Department of Pathology, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Punjagutta, Hyderabad, India. challa_sundaram@yahoo.com
Umabala
P
P
Laxmi
V
V
Purohit
A K
AK
Prasad
V S S V
VS
Panigrahi
M
M
Sahu
B P
BP
Sarathi
M V
MV
Kaul
S
S
Borghain
R
R
Meena
A K
AK
Jayalakshmi
S S
SS
Suvarna
A
A
Mohandas
S
S
Murthy
J M K
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D020314:Central Nervous System Fungal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors