by Siddig EE, Nyuykonge B, Mhmoud NA, Abdallah OB, EL Nour Bahar M, Ahmed ES, Nyaoke B, Zijlstra EE, Verbon A, Bakhiet SM, Fahal AH, van de Sande WWJ. Mycoses 2023, 66(5):420- 429. doi:10.1111/myc.13561
Summary: Mycetoma is a neglected tropical implantation disease caused by 70 different infectious agents. Identifying the causative organism to the species level is essential for appropriate patient management. The authors of this study compared the diagnostic performance of the most commonly used assays (ultrasound, histopathology, culture, and two species-specific PCRs) using sequencing of barcoding genes as the gold standard. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Mycetoma Research Centre at the University of Khartoum in Sudan and included 222 patients suspected of fungal mycetoma caused by Madurella mycetomatis. PCR directly on DNA isolated from grains was found to be the most rapid and reliable diagnostic tool for identifying M. mycetomatis eumycetoma.
