Diagnosis of pilonidal sinus on fine needle aspiration cytology

摘要

Dear Editor, Conidium (from Greek konis = dust, and idium = smaller) is a term used in mycology to designate a type of asexual reproductive spore of certain fungi. Its morphology varies in shape and size, and its presence in cytological smears has been reported. We report a conidium of the fungus Tetraploa aristata sp. found as a presumed contaminant in sputum cytology. Among diverse types of fungi that possess peculiar conidia, we can mention several well-known species such us Alternaria, Bipolaris, Curvularia, Dreschlera, Exo-phiala, Fusarium, Phialophora, etc. All these fungi belong to the Dematiaceous family, also named "brown-pig-mented' fungi because of the presence of melanin in their cell walls, which imparts the characteristic dark colour to their spores and hyphae.