Otomycosis in Adolescent Patients Referred to the Therapeutic Centers in Babol City, Iran

BACKGROUND: Otomycosis is an external ear canal infection caused by various fungi. This disease is prevalent in some tropical and subtropical regions or countries. OBJECTIVES: Given the crucial role of fungal agents in the treatment of the disease, the aim of the present study was to identify the fungi in ear canal of patients with otomycosis admitted to the hospitals in Babol City, Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study included 56 patients with otomycosis. After removal of ear infectious samples, some of them were placed on the slides for direct examination and also a portion of them was plated on the Sabouraud dextrose agar with chloramphenicol for fungal growth. The slides were studied for the presence of fungal elements. Conventional methods were performed to determine fungal colonies. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients (55.36%) were female and the rest were male. Fungal elements were observed in 11 cases (19.64%) in the direct examination, alone, and 45 specimens (80.36%) had fungi and bacteria combined. Septate mycelia, with 43 cases, had the most frequent fungal elements in direct examination. Aspergillus and Candida genera were the prevalent fungal colonies in culture media. CONCLUSIONS: According to the role of different genera of fungi in the process of otomycosis, much attention on the macroscopic and microscopic examination of the samples leads to special treatment decisions of a physician.