title: Pathology of fungal infections of the central nervous system: 17 years' experience from Southern India.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Punjagutta, Hyderabad, India. challa_sundaram@yahoo.com
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sundaram
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Umabala
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Laxmi
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Purohit
authors.forename: V S S V
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Panigrahi
authors.forename: B P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Sahu
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Sarathi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kaul
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Borghain
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Meena
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jayalakshmi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Suvarna
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mohandas
authors.forename: J M K
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Murthy
mesh_terms: 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