Comprative Study of two Different Microscopic Techniqes and Fungal Culturefor Isolation of Dermatophytes

Abstract

Introduction: Fungal infections are very common in man. They are assuming greater significance both in developed & developing countries due to advent of immunosuppressive drugs & disease hot & humid climate in tropical & subtropical countries like India makes dermatophytosis or ringworm a very common superficial fungal skin infection. Dermatophytosis is caused by dermatophytes, a group of keratinophilic fungi that require long incubation period to grow. The clinical presentation, though very typical of ringworm infection, is very often confused with other skin disorder particularly due to rampant application of broad – spectrum steroid containing skin ointments and cream leading to further misdiagnosis and mismanagement. Materials and Methods: Cross sectional lab based investigational study was conducted and skin, hair, nail sample from 110 clinically suspected cases of dermatophytosis were taken from OPD of district hospital of central India and were screened by direct microscopic examination using 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) with and without 40% dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) mount. 10% potassium hydroxide (KOH) with 40% Dimethyl sulphoxide mount (DMSO) mixed in equal proportion. Results: Direct microscopy using KOH mount is simple, rapid and easy method to visualize fungal elements. Many modification have been evolved to increase the specificity & sensitivity of KOH microscopy results like use of 5% glycerol, addition of 36% DMSO, and addition of parker’s blue(4) in this study we compered the results of conventional KOH mount and a modified technique (40%KOH with DMSO)(5). When doing direct microscopic. Conclusion: The modified KOH with DMSO mount had allowed fastest and better visualization of fungal elements at 10 minutes instead of routine 30 minutes.