Diagnosis of fusariosis in urine cytology
- 1Department of Clinical Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan
- 2Department of Pathology, Chi-Mei Foundation Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
- 3Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Medical College, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
- 4Division of Endocrinology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chi-Mei Foundation Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan
- Correspondence to:
Dr C-C Su
Department of Clinical Pathology, Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, 2, Minsheng Road, Dalin Town, Chiayi County 622, Taiwan; sucpo{at}yahoo.com.tw
- Accepted 6 April 2006
- Published Online First 30 June 2006
Abstract
Fusarium is a filamentous fungus widely distributed in plants and in the soil. Most species are more common at tropical and subtropical areas. Besides being a common contaminant and a well-known plant pathogen, Fusarium sp may cause various infections in humans. However, it has not yet been reported as being the pathogen of urinary tract infection. A 67-year-old woman had extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy and percutaneous nephrolithotomy for renal stones 7 and 6 years ago, respectively. She had had fever, chillness, urinary urgency and frequency for 6 days. Routine testing of urine showed numerous leucocytes. She was admitted under the impression of urinary tract infection. On admission, many spindle-shaped structures were found in the urine smears. This shows that Fusarium was identified. Fusarium may be the pathogen of the urinary tract infection, particularly when urolithiasis is present.
Footnotes
-
Funding: This study was supported by grant DTCRD94(2)-08 from the Buddhist Dalin Tzu Chi General Hospital, Chiayi County, Taiwan. The present study was approved by the institutional review board of our hospital.
-
Competing interests: None.
-
Published Online First 30 June 2006
