Pathologie und Klinik der einheimischen Systemmykosen

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Abstract
The commonest systemic mycoses occurring in western Europe, aspergillosis, mucormycosis, candidiasis and cryptococcosis, are reviewed. Knowledge of the conditions predisposing to systemic mycoses is important for diagnosis of mycoses. Of 5028 unselected autopsies in all age classes in eastern Switzerland, 52 cases with systemic mycosis were found. In 1/2 the mycosis was the immediate cause of death; in 25% the mycosis was jointly responsible. The responsible fungal agents are unlikely to cause infection unless a person''s defenses are low, due to treatment with cytostatic agents, immunosuppressives, corticosteroids and broad spectrum antibiotics. Intensive therapy, venous and urinary catheterization, underlying diseases like alcoholism and diabetes, and particularly malignant conditions, i.e., leukemias and lymphomas that must be treated with cytostatic agents, are also predisposing factors. Fungi most often infect the respiratory tract when it is already invaded by bacterial infection.