Assessment of Cytological Features of Sputum Samples Obtained From Immunocompromised Patients Coinfected with Some Pulmonary Pathogens in Kano State, Nigeria

Patients with advanced stages of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, or Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), are vulnerable to secondary opportunistic infections. The aim of the study was to assess the cytological features of sputum samples obtained from patients co-infected with pulmonary pathogens in Kano. Sputum samples were collected from HIV infected patients attending Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital and digested using potassium hydroxide and epithelial and non-epithelial cells were harvested, smeared and fixed using alcohol for Papanicolaou staining method for cellular morphology. The sputum samples were also smeared using Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) stain for Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and another smear was stained using Grocott’s Methanamine Silver (GMS) staining method for fungi. A total of 65 HIV infected patients were studied. Majority (53.8%) of the participants, were males and 46.2% were females. Cellular features of the sputum samples revealed the presences of mild inflammatory changes in 21.5% of patients, moderate inflammation in 1.5%, negative findings in 61.5%% and unsatisfactory smears in 15.4%. The commonest opportunistic pathogens detected were Candida species (24.5%), Mycobacterium species (20%) and Aspergillus species (9.2%). The study identified that majority of the cytological changes observed in the sputum samples of the HIV infected patients studied were inflammatory changes, which might be due to the presence of Mycobacterium turberculosis, Candida species and Aspergillus species. Hence, the cytological features of the sputum samples could play an important role in detecting the pulmonary pathogens.