Paracoccidioidomycosis: diagnosis by fine-needle aspiration cytology

A 4-yr-old girl presented with constitutional symptoms, abdominal swelling, ascites, and cervical lymphadenopathy. Fine-needle aspirate smears of a cervical lymph node revealed numerous round yeasts, many of them with several peripheral buds fitting the pattern of Paracoccidiodes brasilensis. This appears to be the first case in which the diagnosis of this deep mycosis was achieved by FNAC. The procedure may prove useful for rapid diagnosis in cases like the present one which represents the so-called acute disseminated form which affects mainly children and immunosuppressed patients and can be rapidly fatal.