DIAGNOSTIC PECULIARITIES OF MYCOSES IN IM MUNOCOMPROMISED PATIENTS

Domestic invasive mycoses are typically present as secondary diseases in patients definitely immunocompromised. This truth should not obscur e the fact that a transient overload of the immune system, e.g. in the polytrauma patients, may likewise favour the development of mycoses. The two groups of patients show a comparable course of infection and, to some extent, diagnostic signs: surveillance cultures and monitoring of antibodies are more helpful with trauma patients and less reliable in the typically immunocompromised patients. In the latter, however, antigen tests may yield more reliable results than in the trauma patie nts. The different functional capacities of the immune system in the t wo groups of patients may also affect the appearance of fungal element s, particularly of aspergilli, in secretions and biopsies.