Surgical pathology and the diagnosis of invasive visceral yeast infection: two case reports and literature review

Invasive mycoses are life-threatening opportunistic infections that have recently emerged as a cause of morbidityand mortality following general and gastrointestinal surgery.Candida species are the main fungal strains of gut flora. Gastrointestinal tract surgery might lead to mucosaldisruption and cause Candida spp. to disseminate in the bloodstream.Here we report and discuss the peculiar clinical and morphological presentation of two cases of gastrointestinalCandida albicans lesions in patients who underwent abdominal surgery.Although in the majority of cases reported in the literature, diagnosis was made on the basis of microbiologicalcriteria, we suggest that morphological features of fungi in histological sections of appropriate surgical specimenscould help to detect the degree of yeast colonization and identify patients at risk of developing severe abdominalCandida infection.Better prevention and early antifungal treatments are highlighted, and relevant scientific literature is reviewed.