State-of-the-Art Procedures and Quality Management in Diagnostic Medical Mycology

Detection and correct identification of fungi causing invasive disease is a major challenge for diagnostic laboratories. However, early and reliable diagnosis is essential to keep mortality to a minimum, whereas delayed or missed diagnosis is typically associated with fatal outcome in the case of invasive fungal infections. Therefore, rapid and reliable results are of importance for successful management. In order to guarantee correct reports, accurate processing of all samples and appropriate methods for detecting the fungal agent as well as quality assurance is mandatory. This article gives an overview of current methods and elucidates quality management measures in medical mycology laboratory.