Objective:

calcofluor white (CFW) is a fluorescent stain that allows observing fungal structures in different clinical samples thanks to its affinity for chitin. Darkfield microscopy facilitates the correct visualization of pathogens, favoring patients' timely and correct diagnosis. therefore, this work aims to evaluate the capacity for identifying mycotic structures in different biological samples of CFW staining.

Materials and methods:

thirty-six biological samples (vaginal fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage, cerebrospinal fluid, scales, urine, cornea, blood culture, and biopsy) were evaluated for fungi. All samples were processed by the three techniques: potassium hydroxide 20% (KOH), mycological culture and CFW.

Results:

KOH technique gave a positive result in 58.3% of the cases, culture in 69.4% and CFW staining in 72.2%. The sensitivity and specificity of the CFW technique against KOH were 95% and 67%, while against mycological culture was 100% and 91%.

Conclusions:

this study demonstrates that the BCF technique is a suitable method for identifying fungal structures in clinical specimens because it showed high sensitivity and specificity relative to the traditional method and culture.

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