Dr. Gary Procop, CEO of the American Board of pathology and professor of pathology at the Cleveland Clinic, Lerner School of Medicine discusses the importance of early detection and diagnosis in order to prevent fungal invasion leading to poor outcomes, particularly in immunocompromised patients. He emphasizes the importance of thinking fungus early, shares his passion for mentoring and talks about key updates in the recently released 7th Edition of Larone's Medically Important Fungi.

Ashley's Biggest Takeaways

• Many invasive fungal infections are angiotrophic, meaning they actually grow toward, and into, blood vessels.
• Once the fungus has penetrated the blood vessel, the blood essentially clots, causing tissue downstream from the blood clot to die (infarction).
• When tissues that have been excised are viewed under the microscope, hyphal elements can be seen streaming toward or invading through the wall of the blood vessels. Once the clot forms, those hyphal elements can be seen in the center of the blood vessel where only blood should be.
• Antifungals cannot be delivered to areas where the blood supply has stopped. Therefore, treatment requires a combined surgical and medical approach, and the process is very invasive.
• Early detection can prevent these bad outcomes by allowing antifungal treatment to be administered before angioinvasion occurs.

Links for the Episode:

• Expand your clinical mycology knowledge with the recently released 7th edition of Larone's Medically Important Fungi: A Guide to Identification. Written by a new team of authors, Lars F. Westblade, Eileen M. Burd, Shawn R. Lockhart and Gary W. Procop, this updated edition continues the legacy of excellence established by founding author, Davise H. Larone. Since its first edition, this seminal text has been treasured by clinicians and medical laboratory scientists worldwide. The 7th edition carries forward the longstanding tradition of providing high-quality content to educate and support the identification of more than 150 of the most encountered fungi in clinical mycology laboratories. Get your copy today with $1 flat rate shipping within the U.S. or order the e-book! ASM members enjoy 20% off at checkout using the member promo code.

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