Enhancing ascitic fungal infection diagnosis through next-generation sequencing: a pilot study in surgical ICU patients

Ascites, often associated with critical pathologies such as liver cirrhosis or bowel perforation, can be complicated by fungal infection, increasing mortality especially in intensive care settings and demanding rapid diagnosis and adequate treatment. Traditional microbiological diagnostic methods have limited sensitivity in accurately identifying fungal pathogens in ascitic fluid. Alternative diagnostic methods may offer important insights to enable guiding of antifungal therapy and refining empirical treatment strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of next-generation sequencing methods to identify specific fungal pathogens responsible for ascitic fluid infections.