International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences | January-March 2014 | Vol 2 | Issue 1 Page 38 International Journal of Research in Medical Sciences Gandham P. Int J Res Med Sci. 2014 Feb;2(1):38-41 www.msjonline.org pISSN 2320-6071 | eISSN 2320-6012 Review Article Cladophialophora bantiana Pavani Gandham* INTRODUCTION Fungal infections of the central nervous system (CNS) were considered rare until the 1970s. This is no longer true in recent years due to widespread use of corticosteroids, cytotoxic drugs and antibiotics. Immunocompromised patients with underlying malignancy, organ transplantations and acquired immune deficiency syndrome are all candidates for acquiring fungal infections either in the meninges or the brain. A considerable number of cases of CNS fungal infections even in immunocompetent hosts have been reported. One of such infections is Cladophialophora bantiana infection. Cladophialophora bantiana is one among the very few fungi called true neurotropic fungi and one of the most common pathogens causing cerebral phaeohyphomycosis. 1 Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis is one of the most difficult conditions to treat 2 and poses a threat to the patient and the clinician due to poor prognosis and difficulty in management. 3 TAXONOMY Cladophialophora bantiana belongs to the order Chaetothyrales, family Phaeohyphomycetes and genus Xylohypha. 3 Cladophialophora bantiana was formerly called by the names ‘Cladosporium trichoides’, ‘Cladosporium bantianum’, ‘Xylohypha bantiana’ and ‘Xylohypha emmonsii’. 4 MORPHOLOGY AND IDENTIFICATION The necrotic material with pus-like caseous material from the brain abscess is often the sample sent to the laboratory. Microscopic examination of the KOH preparation reveals numerous septate and darkly pigmented fungal hyphae. Gram and Ziehl-Neelsen smears will not reveal any bacteria or acid fast structures. Sample can be cultured on sabouroud dextrose agar (SDA) plain, SDA with gentamicin, SDA with actidione 1 (Figure 2). Other more commonly used media are potato dextrose agar, oatmeal agar and malt agar. The tubes are incubated at 35°C and 25°C. After 72 hours of incubation, colonies with an olive gray velvety ABSTRACT Cladophialophora bantiana is one of the few neurotropic fungi which causes CNS infections in immunocompetant hosts. Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis caused by this fungus is one of the most difficult conditions to treat due to its poor prognosis and difficulty in management. Thermo-tolerance and multiple functions of melanin produced by this fungus is responsible for its role as pathogen in immunocompetent hosts. Early recognition and excision of lesion with antifungal therapy are required in the management of this condition. Culture and histopathology aid in the diagnosis. Research to find out a novel cost effective fungicidal agent against C. bantiana is the need of the day. Keywords: Cladophialophora bantiana, Cerebral phaeohyphomycosis, Immunocompetant hosts Department of Microbiology, Apollo Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Hyderabad, India Received: 7 December 2013 Accepted: 15 December 2013 *Correspondence: Dr. Pavani Gandham, E-mail: drpavanic@gmail.com © 2014 Gandham P. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: 10.5455/2320-6012.ijrms20140208