Özet:

Objective: Candida species are common nosocomial infectious agents. Since they have different antifungal resistance profiles, identification up to species level becomes more crucial. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) enables rapid and accurate identification of bacteria and fungi up to species level. We aimed to evaluate Candida species identified by MALDI-TOF MS in our laboratory. Methods: Overall 297 strains of Candida spp. were iso­lated from various clinical samples sent to Dicle University Hospital Microbiology Laboratory between March 2015 and February 2016. Strains were identified up to the species level by MALDI Biotyper (BrukerDaltonics, USA) mass spectrometry. Results: A total of 195 (65. 7%) yeasts were isolated from intensive care unit (ICU) patients, 61 (20.5%) yeasts from hospitalized patients other than ICU and 41 (13.8%) yeasts from outpatients. The clinical samples consisted of 161 (54.2%) urine, 78 (26.3%) blood, 34 (11.4%) vaginal samples, 10 (3.4%) wound, 6 (2.0%) respiratory and 8 of other samples (3 pleura, 2 peritoneum, 2 drain and 1 cerebrospinal fluid). Overall, 179 (60.3%) C. albicans, 46 (15.5%) C. tropicalis, 27 (9.1%) C. parapsilosis, 19 (6.4%) C. glabrata, 13 (4.4%) C. kefyr, 7 (2.3%) C. lusitaniae, 3 (1.0%) C. krusei, 2 (0.7%) C. utiliz and 1 (0.3%) C. guilliermondii were isolated. Among all patients; 124 (41.8%) were male and 173 (58.2%) female. Among 84 patients with invasive samples, 50 (59.5%) were male and 34 (40.5%) female. Conclusion: Even though Candida albicans is the most frequently (60.3%) isolated yeast, other yeast species are not uncommon (39.7%) in our hospital. Identification of yeasts to the species level takes several days by conventional methods within minutes by mass spectrometry. This period is crucial in the treatment of critically ill patients.

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