ارزيابي روشهاي مختلف تشخيصي در عفونتهاي قارچي ناخن

Evaluation of different diagnostic methods in onychomycosis

Background:At present time, the diagnosis of onychomycosis is based on clinical signs, direct exam and fungal culture, whereas Pathologic methods have shown to be more sensitive than other methods. Objective: Evaluation of pathologic methods in the diagnosis of onychomycosis in comparison to direct smeer and culture. Patients and Methods: A nail sample was cut from 96 suspected onychomycosis patients by nail clipper.Then it was divided to four parts, and one part was stored. One part was fixed in 4% formalin and examined pathologically (PATH-PAS method).Another part was cultured in mycosilagar and Sabourand Dextrose Agar media and kept in room temprature for 4 weeks. Another part was directly examined by 10% KOH. The results of each method were recorded separately without knowing the results of others. Clinical signs with at least one positive result was considered as onychomycosis and the sensitivity of these methods were campared. Results: The most sensitive method was the combination of PATH-PAS and direct smeer (98%). There was no significant difference between the sensitivity of smeer and pathological method, where as PATH-PAS and culture differed significantly.Conclusion: PATH-PAS is a simple and very sensitive method in the diagnosis of onychomycosis.