A patient with diabetes mellitus whose blood sugars are chronically elevated completes a course of antibiotic therapy for a urinary tract infection. Three weeks later she tells you she has developed white patches on her tongue and buccal mucosa which she can scrape away with her fingernail. She is worried she may have cancer. You swab one of the lesions, which has a curdlike, cottage-cheese appearance, and send it to the laboratory in a little saline for KOH testing. Why?

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Oral thrush (oral candidiasis) is a relatively common oral infection with Candida albicans, a yeast that grows in warm, moist body parts, especially in patients with immune-suppressing illnesses. It is also found in infancy, and in some patients with poorly controlled diabetes. It may flourish after treatment with antibiotics.

A Patient with Diabetes Mellitus Whose Blood Sugars Are Chronically