IDENTIFICATION OF DEMATIACEOUS FUNGI AND THEIR ROLE IN HUMAN-DISEASE

Phaeohyphomycosis is the disease caused by the dematiaceous hyphomycet es or those fungi that are darkly pigmented because of the presence of melanin in their cell wall. Infections with these fungi may remain lo calized at the site of traumatic inoculation or within the sinuses or may become disseminated. As these fungi pose a significant problem to both the clinician who must treat the patient and the laboratorian fac ed with identification of the organism, a selection of representative organisms was presented at the meeting entitled ''Focus on Fungus Infe ctions 5.'' These fungi often infect patients who are not overtly immu nocompromised and therefore may be encountered in a wide variety of ca ses.