Diagnosis of Invasive Fungal Sinusitis

1. Diagnosis Of Invasive Fungal Sinusitis Diagnosis of invasive fungal sinusitis involves Histopathology of biopsy. Biopsy means the removal of a small piece of tissue from the body. Histopathology is cutting the tissue specimen into thin slices, staining the structures of the cells in the thin slices, and examining them under a microscope. Each disease will exhibit specific signature features under the microscope. An expert pathologist may do other stains defining the characteristics of the various cells and their pattern to confirm the diagnosis. However, the ENT doctor's main task is to find which part of the body is the best representative of the disease to do a biopsy. To understand which is the best representative of the disease, an ENT doctor must perform a few tests initially. The initial tests are nasal endoscopy, MRI, and CT scan. The experience of an ENT surgeon will come in handy in determining the part of the body, i.e., the best representative of the disease. As discussed before,

2. various types of fungal infections can coexist in the body, and an ENT surgeon can identify these correctly. The ENT surgeon should give the picture of behavior, symptoms, and nasal endoscopy to the pathologist and help him make an accurate diagnosis. As per the ENT surgeon’s suggestion, the pathologist will look for special fungal stains, as the fungus is not visible in ordinary stains. The pathologist will determine if the infection is in the tissue or surface. If the infection is in the tissue, it is an invasive infection. If it is invasive, the pathologist will look for granuloma formation. In fulminant fungal sinusitis, the fungal mycelia are also visible within the blood vessels.