Mycological profile of fungal sinusitis: An audit of specimens over a 7-year period in a tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu.

BACKGROUND: Fungi are being increasingly implicated in the etiopathology of rhinosinusitis. Fungal sinusitis is frequently seen in diabetic or immunocompromised patients, although it has also been reported in immunocompetent individuals. Invasive fungal sinusitis, unless diagnosed early and treated aggressively, has a high mortality rate. AIM: Our aim was to look at the mycological and clinical aspects of fungal sinusitis in a tertiary referral center in Tamil Nadu. DESIGN: This is a retrospective audit conducted on fungal culture positive sinus samples submitted to the Microbiology department from January 2000 to August 2007. Relevant clinical and histopathological details were analysed. RESULTS: A total of 211 culture-positive fungal sinusitis samples were analysed. Of these, 63% had allergic fungal sinusitis and 34% had invasive fungal sinusitis. Aspergillus flavus was the most common causative agent of allergic fungal sinusitis and Rhizopus arrhizus was the most common causative agent of acute invasive sinusitis. A significant proportion of these patients did not have any known predisposing factors. CONCLUSION: In our study, the etiology of fungal sinusitis was different than that of western countries. Allergic fungal sinusitis was the most common type of fungal sinusitis in our community. Aspergillus sp was the most common causative agent in both allergic and chronic invasive forms of the disease.