INTRODUCTION:

Rio de Janeiro State is undergoing an epidemic of sporotrichosis, a neglected disease of zoonotic transmission by domestic cats (Felis catus). The isolation of the fungal of Sporothrix schenckii complex in mycological culture is the gold standard for sporotrichosis diagnosis; however, imprint cytopathology of lesions is routinely used in veterinary clinical practice.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the performance of cytopathology as a diagnostic method for sporotrichosis in a population of cats with suspicion of this mycosis, from different geographic areas of Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

After clinical evaluation, exudate swab and slides by imprint of the lesion were collected from 196 domestic cats, with subsequent sowing in Sabouraud Dextrose and Mycosel Agar and slides staining by quick panoptic stain.

RESULTS:

Of the 196 animals, 102 (52.0%) were diagnosed with sporotrichosis. The results of culture and cytopathology were discordant (p < 0.0001; χ² = 32.960), with mycological culture (95.2%) more sensitive than cytopathology (52.6%). For animals treated with itraconazole dosage ≥ 100 mg/day, a significant reduction in the diagnostic performance of cytopathology was observed (p = 0.0136). However, the same was not verified in relation to treatment time or other dosages (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSION:

Regardless of the duration of treatment, the dose of itraconazole ≥ 100 mg/day reduces the diagnostic sensitivity of cytopathology. This result is an alert for the use of this method as a unique resource for the diagnostic confirmation of feline sporotrichosis in veterinary clinical routine.

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