Macroconidia of Fusarium species. An unusual finding in cervical smears

To screen cervical smears for early detection of precancerous and cancerous lesions of the uterine cervix in a hospital-based cancer screening program.

Cervical smears were collected from women attending the gynecology outdoors of various Delhi hospitals. The smears were wet fixed, processed for Papanicolaou staining and screened cytologically.

A total of 130,000 satisfactory smears were screened. Benign cellular changes were found in 48%. Of these, 6.9% had evidence of specific infections, while the remainder showed nonspecific, reactive changes due to inflammation/repair. In two cases, unusual, large, crescentic, septate structures were identified. These were labelled macroconidia of Fusarium species on the basis of their unique microscopic morphology. The diagnosis was confirmed on fungal culture in one case. The patient responded well to antifungal therapy.

Cytology is a useful tool for identification of unusual fungi with characteristic microscopic morphology. A prompt cytodiagnosis in these cases can assist clinicians with management.