Antifungal susceptibility testing: Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) methods

Abstract

Antifungal susceptibility testing has become an important tool for-physicians faced with making difficult treatment decisions regarding treatment of patients with fungal infections. The Clinical Laboratory and Standards Institute (CLSI) has approved methods for testing of both yeast and moulds. Testing may be accomplished via macrobroth, microbroth, or disk methods. In addition to CLSI methods, industry has provided a variety of both manual and automated systems for determining antifungal susceptibility for fungi. This, combined with an expanded list of interpretive data, has elevated antifungal susceptibility testing to a level of importance as a diagnostic test.