BACKGROUND Sputum concentration increases the sensitivity of smear microscopy for the diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), but few studies have investigated this method in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected individuals. METHODS We performed a prospective, blinded evaluation of direct and concentrated Ziehl-Neelsen smear microscopy on a single early-morning sputum sample in HIV-infected pa...

background and objectives: the aim of this study was to compare direct microscopic examination with culture and pcr for the diagnosis of mucorales infection in blood and tissue specimens. material and methods: blood samples and tissue specimens were obtained from 28 patients (total 58 samples) with suspected invasive fungal infection and cultured on proper media. direct smear of tissue samples ...

Darier’s disease results from abnormal keratinization of skin and is characterized by numerous keratotic papules that preferentially involve seborrheic areas. Kaposi’s varicelliform eruption (KVE) occurs by viral infections such as herpes simplex virus (HSV) in some inflammatory skin disorders like Darier’s disease. Herein, we describe a 68-year-old man, a known case of Darier’s disease, who pr...

The aim of this study was to investigate sensitivity disorders in the oral cavity related to the presence of Mycobacterium leprae in the saliva of treatment-naïve patients with leprosy in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 45 subjects with leprosy. The subjects were interviewed to evaluate the sensitivity of the oral cavity. For the detection of M. le...

Introduction and objective: Psoriasis is a chronic, recurrent, and common inflammatory skin disease, characterized by skin and nail involvements. Onychomycosis is a common disease of the nails. The relationship between psoriasis and onychomycosis is ambiguous. We studied this relationship in psoriasis patients with any nail involvement. Materials and methods: The nail specimens were prepared by...

Diagnostic cytology is a relatively new science. Cytology (Greek word: kytos = hollow vessel) is the study of individual cells and their intrinsic characteristics and functions. George Papanicolaou is considered the father of exfoliative cytology, but cytology was first used in cutaneous disorders by Tzanck in 1947, for the diagnosis of vesiculo-bullous disorders, particularly herpes simplex. S...

Limited performance data from line probe assays (LPAs), nucleic acid tests used for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB), nontuberculosis mycobacteria (NTM), and Mycobacterium tuberculosis drug resistance are available for HIV-infected individuals, in whom paucibacillary TB is common. In this study, the strategy of testing sputum with GenoType MTBDRplus (MTBDR-Plus) and GenoType Direct LPA ...

Early detection of tuberculosis (TB) cases and supervised treatment are vital for control of the disease. To assess TB transmission from a sputum smear-negative pulmonary TB case, the contacts of a 15-year-old Iranian girl diagnosed with smear-negative TB in 2010 were traced. In all, 52 classmates and close friends and 15 school staff were screened by tuberculin skin test and chest X-ray. Those...