Identification of Dematiaceous Fungi and Their Role in Human Disease

Phaeohyphomycosis is the disease caused by the dematiaceous hyphomycetes or those fungi that are darkly pigmented because of the presence of melanin in their cell wall. Infections with these fungi may remain localized at the site of traumatic inoculation or within the sinuses or may become disseminated. As these fungi pose a significant problem to both the clinician who must treat the patient and the laboratorian faced with identification of the organism, a selection of representative organisms was presented at the meeting entitled "Focus on Fungus Infections." These fungi often infect patients who are not overtly immunocompromised and therefore may be encountered in a wide variety of cases.