Comparison of fungal culture versus surgical pathology examination in the detection of Histoplasma in surgically excised pulmonary granulomas.

Abstract

Surgical pathology examination of granulomatous pulmonary nodules detected Histoplasma organisms with greater sensitivity than culture and direct smear. There were no false-negative surgical pathology diagnoses when compared with microbiological results. These findings suggest that it is not necessary to routinely send material from solitary pulmonary granulomas for fungal culture when the material is removed from immunocompetent patients in a geographic area endemic for histoplasmosis.