Abstract:

Objective To investigate the efficacy of Sayk-Cytospin staining method in determining Cryptococcus in cerebrospinal fluid samples. Methods Cerebrospinal fluid samples from 74 patients with cryptococcal meningitis at Huashan Hospital of Fudan University from January 2020 to September 2023 were collected. The subjects were classified into high and low immune response groups using cerebrospinal fluid cell count 8×10⁶L^-1 as classification line. The samples were determined using the methylene blue staining method，Sayk-Cytospin Wright staining method and Sayk-Cytospin Alcian blue staining method for Cryptococcus. The differences in the positive determination rates of Cryptococcus by different staining methods and different forms under microscopes were compared. Results The positive determination rates of Cryptococcus by methylene blue staining method，Sayk-Cytospin Wright staining method and Sayk-Cytospin Alcian blue staining method were 36.5%，67.6% and 86.5%，respectively. The positive determination rate of Cryptococcus by Sayk-Cytospin staining method was higher than that of methylene blue staining method（P<0.05）. The positive determination rates of Cryptococcus in high and low immune response group by Sayk-Cytospin Alcian blue staining method were 97.5% and 73.5%（P=0.003）. Conclusions Sayk-Cytospin staining method can increase the positive determination rate of Cryptococcus in cerebrospinal fluid samples.

Key words: Cryptococcus, Cerebrospinal fluid, Sayk-Cytospin staining method, India ink staining method