G Alexandrakis1, M Sears, P Gloor. 1. Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: We undertook this study to determine if a polymerase chain reaction-based test that we developed for the filamentary fungus, Fusarium, could be used to detect the organism in postmortem ocular tissues. METHODS: We applied the polymerase chain reaction to amplify a target fragment of Fusarium DNA from formalin-fixed ocular tissues from a patient with endogenous Fusarium panophthalmitis. RESULTS: By using the polymerase chain reaction-based test, we were able to amplify the target fragment of DNA from the infected eyes, but not from uninfected control eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The technique appears to hold promise to be a sensitive, specific, and rapid method of diagnosing Fusarium infections.
PURPOSE: We undertook this study to determine if a polymerase chain reaction-based test that we developed for the filamentary fungus, Fusarium, could be used to detect the organism in postmortem ocular tissues. METHODS: We applied the polymerase chain reaction to amplify a target fragment of Fusarium DNA from formalin-fixed ocular tissues from a patient with endogenous Fusarium panophthalmitis. RESULTS: By using the polymerase chain reaction-based test, we were able to amplify the target fragment of DNA from the infected eyes, but not from uninfected control eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The technique appears to hold promise to be a sensitive, specific, and rapid method of diagnosing Fusarium infections.