Comparison of mucositis grades and rates of oral yeast isolation in irradiated patients

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate mucositis grades changes in patients before, during and after irradiation therapy of oral, head and neck region in connection with isolation of fungi from oral mucosal swabs. During one-year period we examined 25 patients with oral, hand and neck cancer operated and irradiated (22 males - 88%, 3 females - 12%) aged from 47– 84, (average age 63) with ionizing radiation delivered by external source. The dosage of irradiation was 6000 cGy in 30 separated doses, 200 cGy each (max. dosage 7000 cGy in 35 separated doses, or min. 4880 in 26 separated doses). Patients were examined on three occasions: prior the irradiation, during the second week of irradiation and three weeks after the irradiation has finished. Examination included establishing grade of mucositis (0– 5), as well as taking swabs for mycological analysis. Results The mucositis grades changes during the irradiation were statistically significant (v2 = 10 760 ; P = 0.0046). During the irradiation therapy, there were more patients with isolated fungi and there were more non-albicans isolates, but the differences were not statistically significant. (v2 = 2.256 ; P = 0.324). Conclusion Although there was statistically significant increase of mucositis grades in patients during the second week of irradiation, we didn’ t find statistically significant increase of yeasts isolation from taken oral swabs. Therefore, the increase of mucositis grades cannot be connected with fungal mucosal infection in our study group.