Abstract
A flask culture method was developed which utilizes a plastic flask for tissue culture instead of a glass tube. This is useful for the isolation of pathogenic fungi from clinical specimens and for microscopic observation of the isolated fungi without the slide culture technique. Identification of the fungi was simply performed.
At the outpatient dermatology clinic in Yamato hospital, 156 lesions of tinea were examined by this method. The fungi isolated were Trichophyton rubrum, 55 (35.3%); T. rubrum, suspected, 4 (2.6%); T. mentagrophytes, 40 (25.6%); Epidermophyton floccosum, 2 (1.3%); unidentified dermatophytes, 29 (18.6%); contaminating molds, 11 (7.1%); yeasts, 2 (1.3%); no growth, 13 (8.3%).
Macroscopic and microscopic observation of the isolated fungi in the flask were performed at weekly intervals. Characteristic features of T. rubrum such as macroconidia, club-shaped microconidia borne laterally along with hyphae and red pigmentation of colonies were observed after about 3 weeks. Macroconidia, round macroconidia in grape-like clusters and spiral hyphae of T. mentagrophytes were observed after 1∼2 weeks, 1∼2 weeks and 3 weeks, respectively.
A high rate of identification (74.6%) achieved using the flask culture method was making it beneficial for the isolation and simple identification of dermatophytes in an outpatient clinic.
