Identification of fungal pathogens in a patient with acute myelogenic leukemia using a pathogen detection array technology

Invasive zygomycosis in immunocompromised patients results in a high mortality rate, and early identification is crucial to optimize therapy and to reduce morbidity. However, diagnosing specific species of zygomycetes fungi possess challenge in the clinical laboratories. A need for a rapid and sensitive diagnostic tool for early recognition of a zygomycetes fungus in clinical samples to the species level will lead to prompt and accurate therapy and the PathoChip provides one such platform. We utilized a pathogen array technology referred to as PathoChip, comprised of oligonucleotide probes that can detect all the sequenced viruses as well as known pathogenic bacteria, fungi and parasites and family-specific conserved probes, thus providing a means for detecting previously uncharacterized members of a family. We rapidly identified a zygomycetous fungus, Rhizomucor pusillus, an otherwise challenge for the clinical laboratories, predominantly in a patient with acute myelogenous leukemia. This report highlights the value of PathoChip as a diagnostic tool to identify micro-organisms to the species level, especially for those difficult to identify in most clinical laboratories. It will also help clinicians to obtain a critical snapshot of the infection profile of a patient to plan treatment strategies.