Written by Bob R. Bogle, in cooperation with the Southern Arizona Antimicrobial Resistance Survey 13.
Most labs make India ink preps on CSF on request only.
Other fungal cultures may or may not automatically include a KOH prep. A KOH prep should digest in a wet chamber for 20-30 minutes prior to microscopic examination. India ink preps can be examined immediately. By far the most common fungal element found in CSF is the encapsulated yeast Cryptococcus neoformans . If you read an India ink prep, don't forget to perform quality control using formalinized C. neoformans and Candida albicans controls.