Fungal blood cultures.

It is generally accepted that fungemia is an important and often life-threatening event. Unfortunately, it often remains undetected due to the lack of physician and/or laboratory awareness of the usefulness of fungal blood cultures. Many laboratories do not offer the possibility of performing fungal blood cultures and, if offered, some use methods that are not optimal for recovery or require extended incubation for recovery. Of the methods considered satisfactory, the lysis-centrifugation method (Isolator) has the highest recovery rate and the shortest recovery time. The Bactec and Septi-Chek systems are alternative methods, but have limitations.