Application of fungal fluorescence staining in histopathological diagnosis of invasive fungal infections

Objective: To evaluate the application value of fungal fluorescence staining in the histopathological sections of paraffin-embedded tissues with invasive fungal infections(IFIs). Methods: Fifty-five specimens with IFIs confirmed by fungal culture underwent histopathological examination at the same time, including 30 specimens of Talaromyces marneffei infection. The paraffin-embedded tissues were stained with periodic acid-Schiff(PAS) staining, Gomori's methenamine silver(GMS) staining and fungal fluorescence staining, respectively.McNemar's test was used to to compare the detection rates of the three staining methods. Results:Among the 55 specimens, 43 specimens(78.2%)were detected by fungal fluorescence staining, 37specimens(67.3%) by GMS staining, and 23 specimens(41.8%) by PAS staining. The detection rate of fungal fluorescence staining was significantly higher than that of GMS staining and PAS staining(P<0.01). In the 30 specimens of Talaromyces marneffei infection, 21 specimens(70.0%) were detected by fungal fluorescent staining, 14 specimens(46.7%) by GMS staining, and 6 specimens(20.0%) by PAS staining. The detection rate of fungal fluorescence staining was significantly higher than that of GMS staining and PAS staining(P<0.01).Conclusion: The fungal fluorescence staining has a detection rate higher than PAS staining and GMS staining in histopathology diagnosis of IFIs and is a rapid and efficient method for the histopathological diagnosis of IFIs.