Cerebrospinal fluid (1,3)-β-D-glucan detection as an aid for diagnosis of iatrogenic fungal meningitis.

Detection of High Cerebrospinal Fluid Levels of (1→3)-β-d-Glucan in Cryptococcal Meningitis

BACKGROUND (1→3)-β-d-Glucan (BDG) is a helpful diagnostic marker for many invasive fungal infections. However, BDG is not thought to be useful in diagnosing cryptococcosis. We evaluated the utility of BDG as an adjunct diagnostic tool for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and presenting with suspected cryptococcal meningitis. METHODS The Fungitell assay was used to mea...

Detection of (1,3)-β-d-Glucan in Cerebrospinal Fluid in Histoplasma Meningitis

Utility of measuring (1,3)-β-d-glucan in cerebrospinal fluid for diagnosis of fungal central nervous system infection.

(1-3)-β-d-Glucan (BDG) from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a promising marker for diagnostic and prognostic aid of central nervous system (CNS) fungal infection, but its relationship to serum values has not been studied. Herein, we detected BDG from CSF at levels 2-fold lower than those in serum in patients without evidence of fungal disease but 25-fold higher than those in in serum in noncryptoc...

(1-3)-β-D-glucan in cerebrospinal fluid is useful for the diagnosis of central nervous system fungal infections.

TO THE EDITOR—A definitive diagnosis of invasive fungal infection (IFI) remains difficult in immunocompromised hosts. Thus, fungal markers such as galacto-mannan (GM) or (1-3)-β-D-glucan (BG) are useful for the diagnosis of probable IFI in high risk patients [1]. Detection of GM in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been studied and is now considered diagnostic for central nervous system (CNS) asper...

Galactomannan and 1,3-β-d-Glucan Testing for the Diagnosis of Invasive Aspergillosis

Invasive aspergillosis (IA) is a severe complication among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients or patients with hematological malignancies and neutropenia following anti-cancer therapy. Moreover, IA is increasingly observed in other populations, such as solid-organ transplant recipients, patients with solid tumors or auto-immune diseases, and among intensive care unit patients. Freque...