title: Primary cutaneous aspergillosis from Tamilnadu diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology.
abstract: Aspergillus are ubiquitous and more than 30 species have been reported to be involved in human infection. Most of the cases occur in immunocompromised patients and are disseminated in the blood. Primary cutaneous aspergillosis in immunocompetent hosts is rare. We report a unique case of primary cutaneous aspergillosis in an immunocompetent patient diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology. The characteristic ascocarp and ascospores of Aspergillus species were found in the aspirate and Aspergillus glaucus was isolated in pure culture. The case is presented to increase the awareness of the usefulness of fine needle aspiration cytology for diagnosing fungal infections.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College and Research Institute, Tiruporur, Kanchipuram 603 110, India.
authors.forename: Taralakshmi V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Venugopal
authors.affiliation: Bhagavan Sri Dhanvanthiri Foundation, Medical Services and Research Center, Chennai 600 041, India.
authors.forename: Pankajalakshmi V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Venugopal
keywords: Ascocarp; Aspergillus glaucus; Cutaneous aspergillosis; Fine needle aspiration cytology; Immunocompetent host