Evaluation of two MALDI-TOF MS systems and extraction methods for identification of filamentous fungi recovered from clinical specimens.

ABSTRACT: Rapid and accurate identification of cultured molds is important to determine clinical significance and therapeutic decision-making. Conventional mold identification uses phenotypic macroscopic and microscopic characterization; however, this can take days or weeks for colony maturity and definitive microscopic structure formation, be limited to genus-level identification, and be misidentified due to morphologic mimics or similarities between closely related species. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) revolutionized bacterial and yeast identification but remains uncommon for molds in part because of limited reference libraries. Here, a retrospective 5-year review at a large teaching hospital found that 88.6% of identified molds were i

SUBMITTER: Ransom EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11837564 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature