Mycology of Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media at Tertiary Care Centre of Nepal Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya 1,2 , Rabindra Bhakta Pradhananga 3 , Dipendra Kumar Mandal 4 , Manoj Mahato 5 , Niranjan Prasad Sah 2 , Basista Prasad Rijal 2 and Bharat Mani Pokhrel 2 1 Department of Microbiology, Patan Academy of Health Science (PAHS), Lalitpur, Nepal 2 Department of Microbiology, Tribhuvan University and Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal. 3 Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery (ENT- HNS), Tribhuvan University and Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal. 4 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Manmohan Memorial Institute of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal 5 Department of Laboratory Medicine, Civil Service Hospital of Nepal Correspondence to: Ajay Kumar Chaurasiya 1. Department of Microbiology, Patan Academy of Health Science (PAHS), Lalitpur, Nepal E-mail: ajaykr84a@gmail.com 2. Niranjan Prasad Sah: niranjshah@yahoo.com 2. Basista Prasad Rijal: basistarijal@gmail.com 2. Bharat Mani Pokhrel: bmp268@hotmail.com 3. Rabindra Bhakta Pradhananga: rabindrabp@yahoo.com 4. Dipendra Kumar Mandal: dipumicro041mandal@gmail.com 5. Manoj Mahato: mahatomanoj89@gmail.com Abstract Objective: This study was designed to find out the fungal aetiological agents in chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) patients attending tertiary care centre of Nepal. Result: Total 123 samples of 117 patients, outdoor as well as indoor from Department of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery (HNS) TUTH, Maharajgunj, Kathmandu those specimens were processed and among them, 23(18.7%) was found potassium hydroxide (KOH) mount positive whereas positive growth was in 27 specimens. The prevalence rate of fungus was 21.95 percent in which the main pathogen was Aspergillus species (51.8%), followed by Candida species (14.8 %). Keywords: CSOM, KOH, Fungal culture, Aspergillus Introduction Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is characterized by the perforated or non-intact tympanic membrane caused by bacteria, fungi, and fungi as chronic or intermittent infected discharge lasting more than three months. The virus causes mucosal lining inflammation, which often leads to partial or complete loss of the tympanic membrane and ossicles. It is characterized by chronic drainage from the middle ear associated with tympanic membrane (TM) perforation (1-3). There are an estimated 31 million new cases of CSOM worldwide each year, with approximately one-quarter occurring in children <5 years of age (4). CSOM is rare in resource-rich areas, with a prevalence of <1 percent in the United States, 3.5 percent in Nepal, and >4 percent in India (1, 4, 5). It occurs more frequently in resource-limited settings, with prevalence ranging from 6 to 46 percent depending on the geographic area and population studied (6-8). Lack of public awareness about CSOM and delays in seeking care are also likely important contributors (9-11). Some studies have reported that males are more likely to